


Playing the Game of Love

by z0mb1k1d



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Eventual Sex, High School, M/M, Romance, Yaoi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-05
Updated: 2015-05-02
Packaged: 2018-03-21 08:27:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 21,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3685224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/z0mb1k1d/pseuds/z0mb1k1d
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Namikaze Academy; High school for the rich and/or genius that cant spare the time to go to a regular high school. The first quarter has already started, but new students have yet to stop coming in, such includes a new Rock Lee. He may not be rich, but because of his aspiration in school subjects Lee has become quite knowledgeable in most; and thus earned his spot in the large Academy. But upon meeting Gaara, straight A genius and captain of the soccer team, Lee finds himself wanting to flee the school as soon as possible.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First Encounters

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Day 23 Mistletoe](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2574884) by [Azazel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Azazel/pseuds/Azazel). 



It's bright out, and very hot. Especially when one is constantly crowded by a thick mass of teenagers, and forced to walk around the entire school. Why? So the newbies don't get lost in the ridiculously enormous high school. They were being led around by a guide like it was a university. First they explored all over the front grounds of the school, and now the group was circling around to the back. For most; it was quite boring and they just wanted to take note of their basic surroundings. But for few students who followed, such as Lee, it was a great learning experience that needed to be taken note of.  
"And over here we have the tennis courts, for the moment we only have 4 because they have just recently been renovated. We are hoping to have more conjoined though in the near future." the guide smiles perkily. He's clearly faking it, but someone like Lee wouldn't be able to tell in the slightest. No one had asked any important questions, and thus the group kept move. It should have been considered too hot to even go to classes today; it wasn't even close to Spring yet. Mater-of-fact, its almost the end of Fall. But those thoughts didn't concern Lee. What was most heavy on that boys mind was soccer. They would have a field, right? They better. He read in the pamphlet that they did. If they didn't keep the promise, Lee would most certainly take the school for garbage and leave to find another. In short; Lee was very good at soccer, and very dedicated to the craft. He was quite literally devastated for a few days when he had to leave his old team behind, but his feelings were sparred a short while once he heard the school he would be looking at could have one. And a very good team too. While Lee was drifting into soccer wonderland, he hadn't even noticed the group moved well along.  
"Hey." a voice speaks up in front of him. The bushy-browed boy blinks a few times before turning to meet where the noise came from. It was actually from a girl, slightly surprising because she had a, well frankly a more masculine voice. The girl had brown hair, pulled into two buns atop her head. She wasn't tall, but certainly wasn't short. Wore a pink t-shirt with teal sweatpants, and a blue bandana around her forehead just under her forelocks. The girl seemed blunt but friendly, or maybe forward. But to Lee, those could be the best people.  
"H-hi!" Lee smiles brightly back at her, catching up to her.  
"What were you thinking about?" she asks shamelessly, holding her books in relaxed hands.  
"Just..." Lee begins, then his attention immediently shifts. "That." he says and breaks away from the girl, to the side of the group. There before him, is a huge soccer field with a game currently being played. Lees face lights up in anticipation, and he watches with eagerness.  
"Er- Naruto!" A dusk haired boy yells, watching another boy intensely.  
"Shut up!" the boy with spiked, yellow hair yells back and kicks the ball, yet in the wrong direction. Both grit their teeth in frustration, until something catches both their attention. The ball is sent towards a member of the opposing team, and a shorter, thinner boy emerges from behind this member, only to lightly push him aside and kick the ball for himself. It looked like the boy didn't put much thought into it, but the ball went flying at a ridiculous speed to the opposing's net. Lee gapes, the goalie isn't even to even try and catch the death ball. It flies past his head, and hard into the net.  
"That was awesome..." Lee says distantly, almost forgetting to breathe.  
"Yeah it was pretty cool, huh?" Tenten smiles. She clearly didn't value the kick the way Lee had. The two boys, black and yellow haired, glared hard at the other boy. Lee attempted to get a better look. He was short and slender still, as presumed, but he had unruly bright red hair, with a gorgeous pair of bluish-green eyes. He tried not to stare too much, noticing the group began to advance down the sidewalk. But damn, with his pristine pale skin the boy was mesmerizing.  
"Hello??" a familiar voice is heard.  
"A-ah, yes!" Lee follows with a bright blush.  
"What were you staring at?" the girl laughs as they walk merrily behind the group, Lee suddenly without caring to listen to the guide.  
"Nothing!" Lee says quickly, blushing even brighter. "Um, what is your name?" Lee looks over and smiles sheepishly.  
"Tenten." the girl smiles brightly. The girl scans Lee with evident interest in the green-clad boy.  
"Oh, I am Rock Lee!" he presents himself formally, causing a chuckle to escape the girls lips.  
"Neji!" Tenten turns her attention back to the group. A taller boy, a little over Lee, stops walking and turns around to face the two. The boy had long, silky brown hair down to his middle back with white, almost violet eyes. He had a strange mark on the center of his forehead head, maybe a birth mark. The boy wore a tan long-sleeved turtleneck sweater with sleek grey pants. Lee wondered how the hell he was able to stay cool under that.  
"What?" the taller boy sighs, his brows furrowed.  
"This is Lee, my new friend." the two catch up to him, and Tenten smiles.  
"H-hi!" Lee is somewhat caught off guard by the proclamation but accepts it nonetheless.  
"You always pick the strange ones..." the boy sighs deeply, holding the bridge of his nose. Lee scrunches his face like he just ate a really sour lemon.  
"Well, I'm Neji." the boy says informally and continues walking.  
"He's a little on the distant side, but don't worry about it." Tenten nudges Lees arm and winks, then continues walking.  
"Um, right!" Lee nods enthusiastically and follows as they continue their 'journey' throughout the school.

~Back at the soccer field~

"What the Hell, Gaara?! Always doing that!" Naruto crosses his arms angrily, looking away.  
"That goal was mine from the start, Uzumaki." Gaara says, hands on his hips and clearly not amused with the topic.  
"What are you trying to say?!" Naruto huffs.  
"Enough..." Sasuke sighs, placing a hand on Narutos shoulder. "We won, lets go." the black haired boy nudges his head to where the rest of the team was headed. Naruto sneers jealously under his breathe, but follows Sasuke and Gaara off. A perky girl with short pink hair merrily skips up to them. "Good job, Gaara-Kun!" Sakura smiles brightly.  
"Yeah..." he replies distantly, not making eye-contact. 'I told her to drop that.'  
"Really?! Sakura gives you a complement and you don't even thank her?! What kind of person does that?!" Naruto flips out behind them. The red-head rolls his eyes, not bothering to respond. The mixed gender team goes into their separate locker rooms to change back into their uniforms. The boys consists of a white long-sleeved button-up shirt, a navy blue short-sleeved sweater vest, a matching navy tie, and grey slacks with black shoes.  
"I mean you could have just kicked in the correct direction and that would have meant a possible win for you, but I can guarantee Kiba would have intercepted and done a way better job." Gaara states with a sigh as Naruto continues to argue with him.  
"Agreed." the dog-smelling boy smirks at the other end of the lockers.  
"I can't believe you have the nerve to say that!" Naruto pouts, buttoning up his shirt.  
"Well maybe you should stop being a little bitch about it." Gaara answers bluntly, tying his tie in the mirror. Naruto grits his teeth and walks over to the shorter boy, grabbing him by the collar and glaring in his face.  
"You need to stop talking to me like that you know I'm better!" Naruto yells. Sasuke smirks, watching them from afar with amusement. Well, all the boys were doing the same.  
"I'm surprised you haven't noticed, but my foot is in perfect kicking range of your balls. I wouldn't threaten me." Gaara smirks devishly. Naruto pulls back, suddenly frightened. Everyone knows Gaara's kicks are the worst; and getting kicked in the groin by him would certainly mean instant death.  
"Tsk, f-fine." Naruto stutters a bit, releasing the red-heads shirt and walking back to his locker.  
"Nice going." Sasuke nudges him with a snort.  
"Shut up!" Naruto shouts. Gaara fixes his shirt and tightens the tie before being the first to exit. Most of the girls are already out, wearing their cute uniforms that consists of a long-sleeved navy blue sweater, a grey skirt, white knee-high socks and black 1-inch heels. Of course, Gaara doesn't find them appealing; he thinks the outfits are dorky.  
"Let it go, Ino-Pig! You suck at kicking!" Sakura sticks her tongue out at the blonde.  
"It was a technicality! I should be on that team with Sasuke-Kun!" the blonde balls her fists angrily.  
"How ignorant that both of you cant realize looks don't change sexuality." Gaara rolls his eyes as he walks past the girls.  
"Oh really?" Inos expression changes and she lets her hair down from its perky ponytail. "What's yours then?" Ino lightly grabs onto Gaara's shoulder, rubbing her chest against his bicep. Gaara grimaces.  
"It certainty isn't Ino-sexual" he pulls away from her and keeps walking, this time rather speedily. Sakura's rolling on the floor laughing at that point.  
"You're the one who's flat chested." the blonde rolls her eyes, crossing her arms. "You wouldn't have done much better trying to seduce him like Moi!" she giggles. Sakura gets up and glares hard at the girl, before chasing her around the entire school just for one great slap in the face.

Gaara; honors student and advanced straight A's in almost every class.... almost. Although Gaara is only supposed to be a third year in Junior High School, he was advanced enough to be put with the first years at Namikaze Academy. But because of the one class he has a C in, that is what set him back from being with the second years; right behind his older brother and sister Kankurou and Temari who are both thirds. And that one class that happens to be holding him back, is none other than simple chemistry in science. Lucky for Gaara though, he isn't reminded of that until 3rd period, when he leaves his 1-A to go to 1-C. He despises that damned class. He should be right behind his elder siblings, but no. Because of fucking chemistry, he gets held back a year than he should be. Every time he sees that classrooms wall plaque, he winces and scowls in frustration. But alas, it's only first period. Nothing to worry about yet.  
Gaara enters the room in absolute silence, yet as usual he catches attention. It's not abnormal, especially with his flaming red hair and popularity on the sports field. Not to mention the fangirls. What even is so appealing about Gaara? That's what he wonders, but in truth there is plenty reason to be attracted to the young man. He sits down in the center of the room reluctantly,; Damn that Baki for assigning him there. Speak of the devil, soon enough the teacher walks through the doors and sets his things on the desk at the head of the class.  
"Morning." he states un-enthusiastically.  
"Good morning Baki-Sensei." all the students excluding Gaara reply in the same monotone voice.  
"Take out your homework while I call for names." he sighs and pulls up a clipboard. Gaara lazily takes out the papers and a pair of black glasses, often-times he needs them when his vision went blurry for reading too-long.  
"Aburame Shino?"  
"Here."  
"Hyuuga Hinata?"  
"Yes Sensei."  
"Nara Shikamaru?"  
"Yeah-" the boy is interrupted by the sound of the sliding door opening. A few new first-years enter; tour over. Neji and three others take their seats, apparently the only ones out of the group to make it into 1-A. As Gaara reads over his home assignment, he holds the glasses open in one hand, lightly chewing on the tip of the glasses right temple. He feels eyes on him, more intensely than usual. He glances up from his work and sees a boy in a green muscle-shirt and green jeans with an odd bowl-cut. He's clearly taller than Gaara is by a lot of inches, and much more enthusiastic too. But, he's staring quite intensely. Gaara sneers at him and glances away. The boy is clearly embarrassed, and turns red and matches him, turning to face another direction.  
'What the hell are you staring at...' Gaara thinks bitterly, and soon returns to reading his work.

Lee is utterly perplexed by the way the red-head reacted. Or maybe he just cant admit that what he did was utterly stupid.  
"L-Lee!" Tenten whispers to him as the group leaves the classroom, making it sound important.  
"What?" Lee asks quickly, still blushing red as a tomato.  
"Why did you do that?! He looked pissed! You cant just stare at someone like that!" Tenten scolds him, still keeping her voice hushed.  
"I-I'm sorry!" Lee admits, bowing his head quickly.  
"Well don't apologize to me..." Tenten sighs, frustrated, and looks away.  
"Um... sorry?" Lee scratches his head. The two end conversation for a while until getting to classroom 1-B.  
"You gonna be in here with me?" Tenten smiles brightly.  
"No, I'm 1-C." Lee shrugs, his blush finally coming to a stop.  
"You suck." Tenten sticks out her tongue, then briefly waves before entering the class with other students and sitting down. Lee smiles, but then grows a little somber. He sighs, wondering if he could make any other friends before getting to 1-C. Unfortunately, Lee is wrong; and had been left in silence during the walk from B to C.

Feeling like a bum, he lazily slumps down into his newly assigned chair in the lower-level classroom. As the teacher, a certain Hatake Kakashi, continues to speak; Lee begins to hear strange sounds from the seat to his left. It sounds like, chips? Lee furrows his brows and looks over at the pudgy boy next to him. Indeed, the boy was happily eating a bag of chips. He was evidently trying to be sneaky, but wasn't very good at it.  
"Um... is that allowed?" Lee asks as quietly as possible. The chubby boy just shrugs and continues to scarf down the chips. "Do you do that often?" Lee chuckles quietly. Even with a mouth full, the boy smiles brightly and nods quickly, before shoving the now empty bag into his pocket, and taking another one out from his desk. 'How many does he have in there?!' Lee thinks and chuckles quietly, watching as the larger boy continues to eat them.  
"Who're you?" the boy finally speaks, still with a mouth full.  
"Rock Lee." he smiles brightly in return, holding out his hand.  
"Choji." the boy replies, and slaps his greasy hand into Lees.  
'That's lovely...' Lee laughs awkwardly in his head and pulls his hand away. "Isn't it hard to smuggle all those chips in here...?" Lee asks, raising an amused eyebrow. Choji shakes his head, still happily munching. 'Hm, weird.' Lee thinks, but smiles nonetheless and turns his attention back to the sensei.  
"And so; your first assignment of the period will be to write a difficult and incomplete written math problem, then pass it around to see who can complete it and who cant."  
'That sounds awesome! Totally got this...' Lee thinks enthusiastically and smirks, getting to work immediently.

~After first and second period, now third~

The third bell of the day rings, and everyone in 1-C grows admittedly stiffer. A storm is definitely coming, and they all needed to brace themselves. The sliding door is heard opening, and everyone holds their breathe. Gaara comes in with the most dreaded of looks on his face. Everyone releases, sighing at the presence. Gaara can be quite nice sometimes. To look at, mostly, but he can hold good conversation every once in a while. But do not bother him during third period, whatsoever; Or he'll probably beat your ass for no reason. Lee marvels at him, sure he's pissed but he looks beautiful as hell. Those god damn eyes, the auburn locks, and the pale skin. They flow so perfectly with him, and Lee, yet again, is entranced by the young boys looks. Before sitting, Gaara sneers unpleasantly under his breathe, and is placed down in front of Lee.  
'I don't think I did anything...' Lee thinks innocently, not noticing just how bad his eye-stalking was.  
Gaara has a thick, brisk air about him. Its hard to be comfortable around him, his aura is dingy and grey, dark and warping. And soon Lee actually feels the hard pressure of it as they sit a little closer together. That just happens to be, coincidentally, how the seats were placed about in the classroom. Choji, the pudgy boy who is still sitting to the left of Lee, decides to say something since the teacher hasn't arrived yet.  
"You hear that the uniform prices went up?" he asks, mor specifically to Lee.  
"Yeah but, the prices of being in a school with high-class kids aren't bad." Lee smiles brightly, leaning back in his chair and relaxing.  
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Gaara beams darkly in front of him, not turning to meet his face. Of course, being in that pissed off mood, Gaara assumed Lee took it that the students were stuck up and snobbish, being 'higher-class'.  
"O-oh, it was directed towards you or anything, Gaara-Kun..." Lee blushes and chuckles delightfully, rubbing his neck.  
'Kun...' Gaara thinks, toying with the word in his head before scrunching his face. "Drop it." he says.  
"What...?" Lee tips his head to the side.  
"The kun. Drop it." Gaara is defensive again. Lee sits up straight and just nods obediently, before continuing,  
"Ok... Gaara-Sama." he smirks, then smiles sweetly and just laughs. Gaara fidgets in his chair, thinking it's a bit much to be called that when they barely know each other. Before the boy can object though, Kakashi re-enters the room and smiles brightly.  
"Hello Gaara." he says, bluntly just to piss the boy off. Gaara growls and rolls his eyes, taking out his work and glasses, just-in-case. "For the start of chemistry today, we may have a test at the end of class. So first I would like for you all to go over yesterday and last nights notes, and clean them up so they may be put to good use." he nods.  
Lee ponders what to do in his head, before Kakashi continues. "And for the new students, first of all welcome, but also I would like for you to write an essay on what you know.."  
'What I know? About chemistry? Well I know a lot about chemistry...' Lee blabbers on and on in his head, fully-prepared to start writing a very detailed and inspiring essay!  
The green-clad boy pulls out his papers and immediently gets to work. Well, would have done that if he hadn't realized his pencil was incredibly dull. Everyone else was already working though, and its rude to interrupt sessions like this just for a dumb pencil sharpener that he forgot at home. That would be more than disrespectful of the other students. But maybe Lee could figure something else out.  
Lee eyes the back of Gaaras head carefully, this could end VERY badly for Lee if he made the wrong choices. 'Just do it...' Lee thinks nervously, but then toughens up. 'Cmon, it cant be that bad!' he re-assures himself and straightens his posture, suddenly inspired. He holds up his pencil and very lightly taps Gaaras shoulder. The red-head jumps, and fidgets a bit before looking over his shoulder to stare at Lee.  
"What?" he says intimidatingly, voice low and eyes to match. He was wearing his glasses, they made his features sharper, and added to the look of intensity. Lee was honestly perplexed by how someone could look so damn flawless.  
"I...." he's at a loss for words, crushing harder than ever in just one day.  
"What? Spit it out!" Gaara hisses impatiently, tapping his fingers on the desk.  
"I, Um, pencil... sharpener! Yeah haha!" Lee laughs quietly and nervously. Gaaras expression softens, and he turns his head to look forward, pondering the request.  
In a few moments, Gaara holds up his hand and tosses a red pencil sharpener over his shoulder. Lee catches it instinctly, and only barely catches what Gaara says quietly after; as if it weren't meant to be heard.  
"...Just this once...." softly, or wistfully. Lee's breathe hitches, he feels his heart thumping so hard in his chest it might quite literally explode. He gulps hard, and seems to treasure the little red trinket in his hand, before using it. There has to be 'chemistry' between them, right? Lee was absolutely positive that it wasn't just the attractiveness of Gaara talking, that they really did truly have some soft of connection... he just couldn't figure it out though. Why? Why the immedient feel of some sort of relationship, whether it be spiritual, physical, or sexual. It confuses Lee to the core, and he suddenly cant keep his mind focused on the essay anymore.


	2. Lunch Time!

The sun is definitely beating down now. More than it should be when, might you be reminded, it is Fall. The end of it.  
The students shouldn't even be eating outside, it should be raining and/or snowing. And only three tables have umbrellas at the moment, too.  
Unfortunately, Lees table is not one of those. He is currently sitting with Tenten, Neji, Choji, Hinata, and Shikamaru.  
"Neji how are you sitting there in a turtle neck and slacks without breaking a single sweat..." Lee mumbles into his arms, his head laying in them on the table.  
"Can't handle a little surprise heat?" Neji asks with disinterest, reading a book.  
"What? No way!" Lee quickly sits up. "There's no way a little heat will get to me..." he chuckles.  
"I think it's strange too..." Shikamaru backs Lee up with a yawn.  
"It's called turning your bodies temperature down using Tummo. Maybe you should read up on it?" Neji sighs.  
"You still practice that?" Hinata asks quietly, analyzing his bored expression. Neji nods with a light blush.  
"Whats 'Tummo'?" Lee tests the word out slowly. Choji isn't even paying the slightest bit of attention to the conversation at hand, he'sjust focusing on scarfing down his food.  
"I think it's yoga, isn't it...?" Tenten ponders out loud. Neji nods.  
"Well you could at least say something else." Shikamaru sighs, poking around his food before taking a bite.  
"It's nothing that interesting." The brunette rolls his eyes.  
"I think it is." Hinata smiles brightly up to him, causing the young man to blush yet again.

While the group talks about Neji's practice, the soccer teams table is unusually quiet. Naruto is eating his food at a regular pace for once, Sasuke isn't nipping at him like usual, Sakura is staring down at her food with a concerned look on her face, and Kiba is just staring off blankly. Gaara notices this immediently and studies each of them.  
"You guys are nervous for the try outs after school?" he asks, shoving the rest of his food portion further away.  
"What?! No..." Naruto denies as usual.  
"Yes." Sakura rolls her eyes, answering for him.  
"We'll get 6 more players, alright?" Gaara rests his chin on his hands. Kiba furrows his brows and turns back to the red-head.  
"But that's not the problem. GOOD players is what we need!" he sighs, sounding frustrated.  
"What makes you think we can't find 6 good ENOUGH players?" Gaara bares his teeth, getting heated at their sudden pessimism. "I mean come on for once I'm not the pessimist here and you guys aren't listening." he sighs, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair; enjoying that his table was one with an umbrella and that there was plenty of shade to go around.  
"It's just unlikely." Sasuke says, folding his hands on the table.  
"I mean... there is one kid I talked to that seemed really enthusiastic about it." Naruto shrugged.  
"Who?" Gaara asks quickly, leaning forward. Naruto leans back a little, everyone staring at him. "L-Lee or something. Um..." Naruto stands up and looks around. "Him!" Naruto points to the green clad boy.  
'You've got to be shitting me...' Gaara thinks and growls, letting his head drop onto the table. Sakura lightly pokes him.  
"Um..." she begins, confused.  
"We are not having him try out whatsoever." Gaara mumbles.  
"What?!" Kiba stands up, slamming his hands on the table. "But you just said-"  
"I know what I said, you bitch." Gaara sneers coldly, looking up from his arms. Everyones eyes widen. "I can hear myself clearly. And we are not picking him."  
"But WHY." Sasuke stares at him with annoyance in his eyes.  
"Because I fucking said so!" Gaara stands up, mimicking Kiba. The table falls to silence, and both the boys slowly sit down.  
"So we don't even get an explanation?" Sasuke sighs, now very bothered.  
"That's bullshit." Naruto growls.  
"You don't NEED a god damn explanation. If I order something you should follow the order without hesitation." No one understands why Gaara is suddenly so defensive, but they all go silent again. Who could argue with someone like Gaara and just simply win?  
".... are you gonna finish the rest of that?"  
"Take it Naruto." Gaara sighs, and the yellow haired boy takes Gaara's abandoned trey of food.

"There's a lot going on over there..." Tenten says, watching the soccer teams table.  
"Troublesome drama I'm sure." Shikamaru sighs, looking over his shoulder to watch the now apprehensive table.  
"Wonder what happened?" Lee says, finishing his food.  
"Gaara's in a bad mood again." Choji says as he scarfs down food.  
"Aw" Lee frowns, looking over at the table.  
"You met him?" Hinata asks quietly. "I'm too scared to try..." she looks down at her hands, fiddling with her fingers.  
"Yeah." Lee smiles and blushes just a little bit.  
"I wouldn't consider that a good thing." Shikamaru turns his attention to Lee.  
"Hm? Why?" Lee asks, confusion evident on his face.  
Choji, Shikamaru, and Hinata each exchange glances. "Well..." Choji starts, gulping down the food so he could speak more clearly. "He's just..."  
"Kind of..."  
"An asshole." Shikamaru finishes bluntly, tracing patterns on the table.  
"Maybe he's misunderstood?" Lee asks with a smile, trying to make light of the topic.  
"Or bitter." Hinata says quietly.  
"Or aggressive." Shikamaru sighs.  
"Or he plays favorites cuz he gives food to Naruto and not me." Choji states, crossing his arms.  
"Erm... right." Neji looks over at Choji, then turns back to Lee. "I think what they are saying though is you should avoid Gaara, and not associate yourself with him."  
"Isn't he the captain for the soccer team though?" Lee seems to straighten up.  
"Yeah? So?" Shikamaru scoffs.  
"I want to be apart of that team." Lee smiles warmly.  
"That really isn't a good idea, Lee-Kun..." Hinata says quietly, but stares at him seriously.  
"Why? If I have what it takes in skill and dedication, why does it matter?"  
"How about you spend a little more time with Gaara, and then we'll talk." Choji pats Lees back while nodding.  
"Alright!" Lee smiles enthusiastically. 'Gaara-Sama, you just wait until I prove I can be on that team!' he beams in his head inspirationally.  
"I believe lunch is over." Neji snaps his book shut and places it in his bag.  
"Oh, it is! Lee are you gonna walk with us?" Tenten smiles brightly.  
"Yeah sure." Lee shrugs and they all grab their things, standing up as the other students catch on and leave too. While the 6 students walk through the halls, chatting about random things, Naruto and Sasuke suddenly run up behind Lee.  
"Hey bushy-brows!" Naruto springs up beside him. Lee flinches, then laughs and smiles.  
"Hey Naruto!" he smiles brightly.  
"You still want to do try outs?" the raven haired boy on the other side of him asks calmly.  
"Well yeah, of course." Lee chuckles.  
"Great!" Naruto slaps a sticker onto Lees back with all the needed information.  
"Gaara told us not to ask you about it, but we need everyone we can get. So just don't tell him we told you, got it?" Sasuke winks.  
"Yeah sure...?" Lee raises a brow, and the two boys run off. "That was weird." Lee chuckles, peeling off the sticker from his back.  
"You idiot..." Shikamaru face-palms and sighs deeply. Hinata is gently shaking her head in disapproval, and Choji is yet again scarfing down chips.  
"I told you guys no matter what I will try out, and I will try my hardest to make it on that team, whether Gaara-Sama cares or not.." Lee crosses his arms stubbornly.  
"Well I think its about time we go." Neji says, and pulls Shikamaru and Hinata with him off to 1-A.  
"Yeah me too. I'll see you, Lee." Tenten smiles and skips off to 1-B.  
Lee frowns and looks over at Choji as they both take a seat in 1-C. "You guys really don't like Gaara-Sama... huh?" he half-mumbles.  
"Well it's not like we aren't trying." Choji shrugs, gulping again.  
"No, I think you guys are just scared..." Lee says quietly, mainly to himself, and he lays his head in his hand and looks in the opposite direction. 'There is nothing wrong with him. He's a perfectly good person.' Lee thinks; upset that his new friends don't approve of his sudden crush.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Possible spoiler below?
> 
> Gaara and Lee have a history together that Lee doesnt remember. That's why Gaara doesnt want him on the team, he wants nothing to do with Lee anymore.
> 
> Oh and also I should probably mention, just for reference, Hinata started the school year when she should haven, Neji is late to start for unknown reason.


	3. After-School Tryouts

"Pleeeeaaaasse!" Lee begged, his hands clasped together.  
"If we didn't want you to go why the hell do you think we would?" Shikamaru stares at him quizzidly as the group walks out of the schools front entrance.  
"Because I asked nicely." Lee huffs, crossing his arms.  
"I don't care for sports." Neji sighs, and takes a turn away from them. He walks off, book in hand, not saying another word.  
"Oh come on! Tenten I would have expected you to help me out here!" Lee frowns.  
"I'm scared, Lee..." Hinata twirls a lock of purple hair between her fingers.  
"I barely talked to him at all today and I think he's great!" Lee states proudly.  
"Well we never said we would come and at least watch. " Shikamaru shrugs simply.  
"But that's no fun, I'm sure." Tenten sighs.  
"I'm not wasting my energy on that." Choji suddenly speaks up after eating his chips for so long.  
"Of course.." Hinata chuckles softly, as most of them expects that response from the pudgy boy.  
"Do whatever you guys want..." Lee sighs quietly, and starts walking faster so he wont be late to the tryouts. The four of them exchange glances and walk behind Lee. Sure, maybe they didn't want to have to try a sport (they know next-to-nothing about) in front Gaara, but they would definitely be there for a new friend; even if just to watch and cheer him on. Lee was happy by that, but was still let down at their un-enthusiasm. The group walked to a field not too far from the school. There were two large soccer nets, parallel across the field from each other. On the left side, there was a table; seating the current five player team of the Namikaze Blue Champions.  
And on the right side, the students who came early. At first sight, Lee could feel his stomach drop a little bit. It was totally nerve-wracking.  
But then he remembers 'I'm great at this! There's no way a little extra competition will get me worried!'  
Enthusiastically, Lee marchs over besides a pale boy with trimmed dark brown hair, his expression emotionless and his eyes looking empty. And besides him, a perky blonde with a high ponytail, and a very determined expression on her face. Then there were others that Lee didn't pay much attention to. He holds his hands behind his back and stands straight, inspecting the 'judges' confidently.  
Gaara, a yellow haired boy and a black haired boy holding hands, a brown haired boy that shows off his canines with a smirk, and a girl with pink hair that looks well pissed-off. Lee furrows his brows but, just keeps thinking about what good would come from this.  
As Gaara looks down the line of 'contestants', his eyes stop at Lee, and they turn into death glares.  
"What... the hell..." Gaara growls through his bared teeth, almost snapping the pencil in his left hand. The red-head slowly turns his head to see Sasuke and Naruto, casually sitting beside him like nothing was wrong... even though they knew damn well why Gaara was pissed off. "I told you two not to fucking say anything." he says angrily, but voice hushed.  
"We didn't." Sasuke lies with a bored shrug. Although at most times, he was the king of lies and keeping things hidden. But Gaara could see through anyone.  
"I'm gonna beat you two senseless later." Gaara sneers under his breathe, and turns back to see everyone. "Audience?" he asks loudly, aiming at Hinata, Shikimaru, Choji, Tenten, and Hinata. Tenten nods confidently, while the others just kind of stand, feeling awkward. "Yay" Gaara mumbles under his breathe and rolls his eyes. "Nanise Yuruka." Gaara calls out, crossing one leg over the other. A young girl, a first year with waist-long black hair struts up confidently.  
"Yes!" she confirms, bowing her head quickly. Gaara's crystal orbs scan over her and narrow, then look over at the second goal. "I want you to start at that goal," he points, " And turn to face the other one." he points to the opposing net. "I want you to lazily kick the ball (doesnt have to be too far), catch up to it, and then kick to the goal as accurately as you can; as if intercepting a fifty-fifty ball." Gaara rests his head on his hand.  
"Excuse me though, I don't believe I know the terminology.." the girl slowly raises her hand.  
"Basically when the ball has been badly or loosely passed without warning, and a player from either team has a chance at it." Gaara glances over at Naruto, a dangerous glint in his eyes, referencing what had happened that morning. Naruto just cheekily smiles and turns back to look at the girl.  
"Can you do it without assistance?" he asks.  
"Yes sir!" The girl now nods confidently, and kicks the ball between her feet over to the second goal.  
"I like her..." Gaara practically purrs as he watches her.  
"Course you do, she's short and listens to your orders with minimal question." Sakura rolls her eyes. The whole time her eyes were focused on Ino though, just barely tuning in on what the boys had spoken to, Yuruka, about.  
"Heh... precisely." Gaara swiftly licks across his teeth, and the girl begins what she had been told to do.  
Lee was watching Gaara the entire time, and his chest gradually tightening up with the red-heads every word. Lee gulps nervously and looks down at his feet, feeling his face heat up and his heart pound in his chest. Now this feels like a really bad idea.  
Yuruka kicks the ball to the very left side of the net, almost not even making it.  
"Where's the effort?" Kiba yawns quietly.  
"I know, she seems lazy regardless. But she listens well..." Gaara writes on his clipboard in his usual fancy, and quite cursive, beautiful writing.  
"Which we know you like, but even if she follows orders I don't think she'd be able to carry them out. Unlike someone..." Sasukes eyes gradually meet Lees.  
"Exactly." Naruto swings his head in Gaaras direction, agreeing with Sasuke. Gaara grits his teeth behind his lips, and doesnt respond.  
"Show me a scissor-kick." he says loudly. She did as told, and again, the footwork was lazy. "A wall-pass." Gaara leans back, crossing his arms.  
"But there's no wall.." the girl says, a little worriedly.  
"Then imagine one..." Sakura mumbles under her breathe. Gaara starts writing again. Naruto makes half of a sour face and glances over at Sasuke, who returns the look.  
"You've done enough." Gaara finally says, sending the girl back.  
"Lee now?" Naruto asks impatiently.  
"Yamanka Ino!" Gaara calls out, growing evidently annoyed. Naruto shuts up and looks over at Kiba. 'I know.' Kiba mouths, not understanding why their captain is so damn bitter towards the optimistic boy. Sakura didn't even give a shit though, she was totally focused on Ino. 'She cant get on this team.... no way in Hell...' she thinks, balling her fists. Gaaras expression softens. "What is it..?" Sasuke notices and asks quietly. He slowly shakes his head, a response of 'its nothing'. After Ino tried her best in doing as told, Sakura became more infuriated; because she was actually quite good at the sport. But even so... Gaara just couldn't bring himself to want her on the team. Sasuke nudges Narutos arm, then angles his head briefly over to the red-head. Narutos neck cranes to see the captain, he had a lost look in his eyes. Naruto looks back to his boyfriend and sighs. "Ino reminds him of Deidara." he says softly and quietly. Sasuke nods in agreement.  
"It's all in the looks..." Sasuke notes quietly. Kiba sits up in his chair, contorting his legs under him so he could look above the couple. "Hey can we just see the greenie-boy now?" he asks bluntly, not realizing that Gaara really wasn't in the mood to be bothered with it again.  
"Shut it!" The red-head suddenly barks, staring at the wolfish boy with a look of deep thought in his eyes. Kiba pulls back, and sits back down normally. Everyone waiting is nervous now, like, way too nervous.  
'Gaara-Sama...' Lee notices the look he has, and frowns. 'Call me up, I will make you happy!' he grows eager, and lightly bounces on his heels in anticipation. "Please..." he quietly pleads under his breathe. Gaara slowly returns his gaze back to the participants.  
"Rock... Lee." he says, a little quieter than usual. Lee takes in a small gasp and not-too-eagerly walks up to them calmly.  
"I'm fully prepared for whatever you have for me." He says, completely determined. Gaara takes in a big breathe, and slowly exhales.  
"Present to me... whatever you want." he says, staring Lee dead in the eyes. The statement takes the rest of the team completely by surprise. Their captain always wants to have control, and when he was so incredibly bitter towards Lee, it is so odd how he would say such a thing.  
"R...really?" Lee falters a bit, surprise in his eyes.  
"You heard me." Gaara nods, his voice calm and subtle.  
"Ok..!" Lee nods strongly and back-tracks to the field. He tosses up the ball with his feet, kicks it up and around a few times before spinning around, taking a small leap on his hind foot, and kicking the ball across the field; hitting the goals net dead-center. Gaara's eyes widen and he perks up, re-adjusting himself in his seat before lightly leaning forward on the table to get a better observation. Gaara watches as Lee just goes and goes, getting better kicks and tricks in every moment. Sasuke and Naruto make eye contact, and they both smile, holding there hands tighter together. Lee was definitely not someone to be bitter about. He was like a promise that would not be broken; They hoped Gaara would realize this.  
When Lee reaches his limit, he brought the ball back to the center and walked up before the panel. "So...?" he asks, breathing heavily.  
"Um..." Gaara slowly looks down at his clipboard. "Thank you, Lee. Please return." he glances up, their eyes meet, and Lee slowly smiles and walks back to where everyone else is. Gaara looks back down at his paper, his hand lightly shaking as if he didn't have anything to write other than 'Amazing'.  
"... Well I thought the performance was brilliant." Sakura says confidently, fixing her posture in her seat.  
"Agreed." Both Naruto and Sasuke say in symmetry, then glare at each other. The captain doesnt respond, and just calls up Sai next. 'Indeed, it was.' he thinks though, feeling a lightness in his stomach. A frankly unpleasant one he doesnt enjoy at all. But... it made him want to smile. Lee smiling made him want to be happy just like Lee was. 

After everyone had tried out and the day was done, all the participants left. Lee was the last, with his group and all.  
"That was pretty cool of you... show off." Shikamaru smirks, nudging his arm.  
"T-thanks!" Lee lightly blushes and rubs the back of his head with a big smile.  
"It was awesome!" Tenten bursts in excitement, while Hinata just nods with a smile.  
"I think you'll make it." Choji says with a mouth full of food.  
"Well... I hope so..." Lees smile softens and he glances away, remembering the soft tone in Gaara's voice, and having it echo over and over in his head.  
"It's a shame Neji didn't come to watch, he seems like a troublesome one." Shikamaru places both hands behind his head in a carefree way with a yawn.  
"Nah its ok! Ill just have to prove to him later that soccer can be really cool!" Lee smiles brightly, making light of the comment.

As the team cleans up the table of papers and such, Gaaras eyes stalk Lee and his group as they walk off. He feels his stomach lift again, and grimaces at the feeling.  
"Oi! Gaara!" Naruto obnoxiously waves his hand in front of the captains face. "You awake? Watcha starin at, huh?!" Naruto laughs heartily, looking around.  
"It's nothing..." Gaara slowly turns away and grabs his things, before the Champions head off in the opposite direction.  
"I think we can all say that Lee, Ino, and Sai should all be on the team, right?" Kiba chimes, his steps heavy on the ground.  
"What about Taoru though? I thought he was pretty impressive." Sakura shrugs.  
"We will discuss this tomorrow. I will think it over, and if you have arguments you better speak them clearly." Gaara says and walks ahead of everyone, clearly more interested on being in his head than with them. The crew of four exchange glances and smile.  
"I think Gaara really likes Lee, I do." Sakura nods with a soft smile.  
"Did you hear how he talked to him?" Kiba smirks. "He was all gentle and quiet!" the dog-boy snorts.  
"It was pretty odd, huh?" Sasuke snickers, staring at the back of their captains head.  
"We shall see..." Gaara says very quietly under his breathe, for no one else to hear but him.


	4. So Who's On The Team?

Gaara leads his team down the empty schools hallways, its very early in the morning, even most of the teachers haven't even arrived yet.  
It was the only time that day they could rent out the small meeting room, though. But even so, before they had even reached the room to discuss who was and wasn't cut, the four team members crowded behind their captain, arguing about this and that.  
"I still don't think Ino should be on the team." Sakura protests stubbornly against Narutos argument.  
"Well then Sai shouldn't either!" Naruto pouts, crossing his arms.  
"Well? Gaara come on give us a hint!" Kiba lightly grabs onto the red-heads shoulder, standing on his toes to peer over the shorter boys head.  
"If all of you don't shut the hell up I swear to god..." Gaara growls intimidatingly under his breathe, his arms pressing tighter together under his chest. Kiba pulls away and everyone goes silent. Arriving at the room, Gaara holds open the door for them. As usual, captain sits at the head of the table and the four around him.  
"So..." Sasuke starts.  
"I already have many decisions made." Gaara states, not waiting for anyone to say anything before continuing. "Ino is good at blocking and distracting, although she is cocky and can get un-focused easily. She would be a great extra to the mean, or fill-in." Gaara shrugs. Sakura smirks under her breathe but doesnt say anything. "Sai listens to orders, obeys, and does what needs to be done. But he is too linear. He isn't good at kicking angles, and can sometimes get snappy; maybe territorial. Either-way though, he deserves a spot with the Champions." Gaara props his elbows on the table, folds his hands, and rests his chin on them. He contently closes his eyes, awaiting Narutos obnoxious yells of protest.  
"Hold on!-"  
"Naruto." Sasuke interrupts the angered boy, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Gaara is right." he says calmly. Even Sakura submits to having Ino needed. Naruto grits his teeth and growls quietly, squirming away from the ravens hand.  
"F-fine..." Naruto crosses his arms, and sinks down into his chair. Gaara goes over all the other students who tried out, who would make it and who was just terrible.  
"So, we are all in agreeance?" Gaara sighs, leaning back in his chair with a soft sigh. The team of four slowly nods. "Actually..." Gaara adds, glancing off.  
"What? We covered everything." Sakura barely tilts her head.  
"Lees group."  
"What about them?" Kiba furrows his brows, they had already well accepted that Lee would be a part of the team no matter what; even if Gaara didn't want to admit it.  
"The boy with the ponytail, brown hair, you know?" Gaara puckers his lips, thinking.  
"Uhuh..." Naruto leans forward, suddenly interested.  
"I noticed him, every time someone performed in front of us, he would speak to the purple haired girl. Point, and analyze them as he spoke. Although I didn't have the chance to hear what he was talking about, and although I cant read lips; I think he's very intellectual and would make a great advisor." the red-head shrugs.  
"Are you crazy?" Kiba stands, Naruto follows but doesnt say anything.  
"Well yes, but, I think I could be onto something with this..." Gaara shrugs, rotating in his chair so he didn't face them.  
"Maybe he's right." Sakura and Sasuke both shrug in unison. Sakuras face lights up with a blush, but the raven doesnt give a damn, just focuses on the back of Gaaras chair.  
"What?!" Naruto shouts drastically, as expected.  
"All I'm saying is I think I'm going to talk to Lee and have him to talk to his friends about trying out." Gaara nonchalantly waves his hand above the chair.  
"But we always only do ONE day of tryouts!" Kiba says, gripping the table.  
"But I decide what goes; Do. You. Understand me?" Gaara swivels around and glares hard at him in response. "Now be a good bitch, and sit back down." he says coldly. Both Naruto and Kiba sit down with annoyed looks.  
"... I'll help out." Sakura shrugs, her blush going away.  
"Good..." Gaara sighs quietly. "Meeting dismissed then." he stands up, and is the first to leave the room.  
"Its probably because he doesnt want Lee on the team." Kiba makes an excuse.  
"No, its probably because you two don't trust his decisions." Sasuke answers and stands up, leaving next. Sakura holds her mouth to the side, 'Probably both.' she thinks, but stays silent, and leaves next. Naruto and Kibas eyes meet, but they just leave together in silence.  


~Skip To Third Period~

When third period came around, Gaara stepped through 2-C's doors and walks to his seat with a distant, almost nervous look on his face. Lee was blabbering on with Choji about random topics, mostly about what Lees home life was like, or his school life and such. Gaara sat down silently, and Lee perked up.  
"Gaara-Sama..." he starts, peeking over the red-heads shoulder.  
"Don't ask me about it." Gaara replies without looking at him.  
"Aww" Lee laughs, leaning back in his chair. "You are giving the results today though, right?" he smiles. Gaara nods without saying anything. "Is there enough to make at least 11?" he asks curiously. The red-head thinks, then slowly shakes his head. Lees expression fades "Really...?" asks quietly.  
".. yeah." Gaara decides to respond quietly. Lee suddenly feels guilty.  
"I knew I should have had them try out.." he said to himself quietly.  
"Your little group?" Gaara glances over his shoulder.  
"Eh? Yeah..." Lee looks at the wall with a deep sigh.  
"I was going to talk to you about that actually." Gaara stands and sits back down, now facing Lees desk and leaning over the back of his chair. Lee lightly blushes, and leans forward so they're closer together. "Who was the boy with the ponytail?" he asks shamelessly.  
"E-erm... Shikimaru." Lee answers, a bit flustered at the little space between them.  
"Nara?" Gaara recognizes the name, and Lee nods. "Ah... he's in my class, that's right..." he holds his mouth to the side. "Why didn't your group participate in the tryouts?" he returns to topic.  
"T-they didn't want to, even when I asked a lot." Lee shrugs, rubbing his arm.  
"Oh..." Gaara says unenthused, and gets up to return to regular position on his chair.  
"U-um!" Lee, on instinct, grabs Gaaras tie and pulls him back down. The red-heads eyes widen, and their faces are closer than ever now; with Lee firmly holding Gaaras tie he slowly lets go. "I... can... ask them again..." Lees face burns bright red "A-and... um.." he fumbles for words.  
"... yeah..." Gaara says distantly, just staring at the green-clad boy who still hadn't gotten his uniform yet. Lees eyes slowly meet Gaaras, and he's trapped in the short boys crystal orbs again. They just sit there like that for a little while until Choji speaks up after gulping down food.  
"Count me out!" he nods.  
Gaara glances over and swiftly licks around his lips before pulling away from a now scarlet-toned Lee. He sits down silently, and when he notices no one staring, a blush covers his cheeks as well. "Very well..." he says quietly. "But Lee you must come." Gaara crosses his arms and one leg over the other.  
"O-ok!" Lee nods quickly, just going along with whatever he said, not quite back down to Earth yet.  
At the end of the period, Gaara grew fidgety and nervous. Lee raises his hand, patiently waiting.  
"Yes Lee?" the teacher tilts his head.  
"Erm, may I be excused?" he asks. Even though there was only a few minutes left of the period, the teacher allows him to leave. Gaara lets out a huge breathe, like a weight was lifted off his shoulders. And because Lee still wasn't as comfortable with the schools layout as he'd like to be, it took him a little longer to find the bathrooms than it should have. When class ends, Gaara waits patiently for everyone to leave for lunch. Once the room is empty, he takes a slim, tan box with red ribbon over it out of his bag, and places it ontop of Lees desk, then leaves the room. Lee gets back shortly after to retrieve his bag, and feels his heart thump harder in his chest when he spots the gift. He slowly picks it up opens it carefully. There's the Blue Champions uniform, and under the shirt and shorts a small note in perfectly fancy handwriting.  
'Welcome to the team, Lee.'  
Lee grins and places the gift in his bag before running out of the classroom. He spots Gaara just at the end of the hall and sprints up to him.  
"Thank you Gaara-Sama!" Lee beams and hugs Gaara from behind, almost knocking the red-head to the floor.  
"L-Lee!" Gaara shouts in annoyance, but, slowly relaxes. "You're.... welcome..." he says quietly with a sigh.  
"I will not disappoint you!" Lee pulls away excitedly.  
"You better not..." the smallest of smiles tugs at the corners of Gaaras mouth. "Now follow, cuz you're sitting with me." Gaara continues walking.  
"Ok!" Lee eagerly follows the shorty, and Gaara just feels... fuzzy.  


~Skip To Lunch~

The weather dropped that day. Now it was windy, and grey out. The students definitely preferred to eat lunch inside that afternoon.  
While Gaara walks past Lees table, Lee comes to a hault.  
"Where are you going?" Tenten asks with a confused expression.  
"Guess who made it on the team..." Lee grins.  
"No way!" Tenten shoots up with a big smile. "That's great! Im happy for you!" she holds both his hands.  
"Congrats." Shikamaru says with a weak smirk.  
"So Gaara wanted me to sit with the team today." Lee shrugs.  
"Alright, but don't you dare ditch us for him..." Tenten winks with a smirk.  
"No way!" Lee laughs and rushes off to be back at Gaaras side.  
"He looks so happy... " Hinata softly smiles as Tenten sits back down.  
"I know, that doof." Shikamaru snickers, poking his food around before taking a bite.  
"I don't see whats so good about it." Neji sighs uninterested.  
"Well if you came to the tryouts to watch lee you would have seen." Tenten nudges him with an annoyed expression.  
"It was pretty awesome but I think Gaara wants you guys to try out too." Choji says with a mouthful. Hinatas eyes widen.  
"W-what?" she asks quietly, a bit worried.  
"When did that happen...?" Shikamaru leans forward against the table with his hands folded on top of it.  
"In 2-C right before here." Choji shrugs nonchalantly, crumpling up now empty bag of chips.  
"What did he say?" Tenten clocks her head to the side.  
"He was like talking to Lee about how he liked Shikamaru or something, and how he wanted you guys to try out after school. Except for me." Choji smiles cheekily.  
"And what did Lee say?" Hinata asks quietly, now nervously fiddling with her fingers under the table.  
"Lee said he would help out and ask you guys to do it." Choji shrugs, taking out another bag.  
"Dammit, Lee." Shikamaru holds the bridge of his nose and sighs.  
"Maybe it'll be a fun experience?" Tenten laughs awkwardly.

"Welcome to the team, bushy-brows!" Naruto laughs heartily.  
"Thanks, Naruto-Kun..." Lee chuckles bashfully, rubbing his arm again.  
"You shouldn't call him that." Sasuke glances over at the eager boy.  
"Why not?" Naruto asks dumbly.  
"Don't worry about it, I don't mind." Lee smiles, eating his lunch happily.  
"So, Lee's going to help getting the others to try out?" Sakura asks, she catches Lees attention quickly.  
"Yup." Lee answers before Gaara can, almost immediently. The captain narrows his eyes, but doesnt say anything; Envy grows in the pit of his stomach.  
"It's probably gonna be a pain in the ass." Kiba sighs, popping his knuckles.  
"I'm sure hes got it..." Sakura chuckles.  
"Y-yeah, it's fine.." Lee laughs, rubbing the back of his head with a light blush covering his cheeks. Gaara flexes his jaw, gripping his slacks tightly under the table in growing frustration. He just stared off though, not saying anything.  
"Gaara are you gonna eat your lunch or what?!" Naruto asks, staring at the captains trey, as his was already finished.  
"The pineapples mine, but everything else go ahead..."  
"What's even so good about pineapple?" Naruto snatches the trey and starts eating again. Sasuke begins to chuckle. "Oh nothing..." he meets Gaaras eyes, and they both smirk. Lee raises a brow but doesnt say anything.  
"Really?" Sakura glares at both of them.  
"I mean if it really says-"  
"I don't wanna hear about it again!" Sakura blushes, cutting off Gaara regardless of what would happen.  
"Fine, fine..." Gaara says, and both him and Sasuke snicker to themselves. Naruto just shrugs and passes back the trey once he's finished everything but the yellow fruit.  
"So, erm, when are practice days?" Lee speaks up.  
"Before school is Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. After school is Thursdays and Saturdays. You can show up for either of them any time, unless I say you must be to certain practices." Gaara explains with a caring look.  
"Of course.. "Lee nods understandingly. 'Today is Tuesday, so no practice.' he thinks and then nods again, to himself.  
"If you need a different sized uniform too, just ask. I only assumed what you size you would need." Gaara struts his fingers along the table, acting like they were legs on a person. Lee smiles and nods.  
"Are their any rivalry teams I should be aware of?" he asks like it was no big deal. Gaara pauses though.  
"... yeah." he says softly, more quietly.  
"The Hoshigaki Red Ghouls." Sasuke says, looking off.  
"They're pretty scary." Kiba chuckles.  
"But nothing we cant handle!" Naruto smirks.  
"Don't be stupid." Gaara glares at him. "They are our all-around rivals, even though they consist of all third years and we second." he concludes.  
"And the team members are...?" Lee raises a brow.  
"Jackasses." Sakura sneers, then Sasuke clears his throat.  
"The team consists of my older brother Itachi, Konan, Sasori, Hidan, Nagato, Kisame, the Zetsu twins, Pain, their captain Kakuzu..." Sasuke pauses.  
"And Deidara." Gaara finishes the sentence with a quiet sigh.  
"What's wrong with them?"  
"Well-"  
"You don't need to know right now." Gaara cuts Kiba off, crossing his arms and leaning back, staring down at the table. Lees expression softens and he just nods.  
'Ill tell you later.' Sasuke mouths to Lee, and he responds with a quick nod.  
"Lunch is over." Naruto yawns loudly, standing up.  
"R-right." Lee smiles and stands, soon the lunch room is dispersed into emptiness, and the classes resume.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the poor transitions.
> 
> I know this is already the fourth chapter, and it's still the beginning, but I DO have an end goal. I'm purposely wanting this story to be a longer one ^_^
> 
> If you guys don't get the 'pineapple' joke I threw in at the end, it's said that pineapple makes semen taste better. I thought it would be funny to include but, I'm a jackass so probably not XDDD  
> Sasuke and Gaara need to get their heads out of the gutter though and stop thinking about that stuff...


	5. Dinner With The New Team

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I heard some people like long chapters... *wink*  
> And a possible flashback... *wink wink*
> 
>  
> 
> And also biker Kankurou! *hearts everywhere*  
> 

After lunch in the hallways, Lee met up with Hinata, Choji, Shikimaru, Neji, and Tenten to talk about after-school.  
"And when were you planning on bringing this up?" Shikimaru sighs.  
"After lunch! Like right now!" Lee states with his head high.  
"You dumba-"  
"You should have said something earlier, Lee-Kun." Hinata says softly, but smiles. Her and Tenten were actually kind of excited.  
"I didn't really have time to though, Gaara pulled me away before I could meet with you guys to talk about it.." Lee chuckled softly, rubbing the back of his neck.  
"I'm not going." Shikimaru yawns lazily.  
"But he wanted YOU specifically!" Lee protests, staring at him in shock.  
"But I don't want to..." Shikimaru makes a sour face. "I wasn't prepared for anything." he places his hands behind his head, strutting carefreely.  
"You wouldn't even do it for me?" Lee furrows his brows.  
"Don't say it that way." Shikamaru glances away from the taller.  
"Just do it to get it over with." Tenten lightly pushes him. "It wont be THAT bad!" she crosses her arms, growing frustrated he wouldn't do Lee a little favor.  
"Eh, you two are so troublesome.." he stares up at the ceiling with a deep sigh.  
"They would stop if you just agreed." Hinata chuckles quietly, staring up at him.  
"Fine fine fine!" Shikamaru shakes his head in disapproval of the situation, but submits anyways.  
"Yes! Victory!" Lee grins happily and high-fives Tenten. "Do you guys know anything about soccer though...?" Lee slows down and asks unsurely.  
"I watch it with my dad." Shikamaru confirms.  
"I'm a quick learner.." Tenten shrugs, clarifying she doesnt. Hinata just flat out shakes her head. Lee sighs and holds his mouth to the side, trying to think. 'Gaara-Sama wont be pleased...'  
"Maybe we should go over some things before we meet the team at the field?" Lee sports, perking up a bit before he feels hands on his shoulders.  
"Lee! We need to talk to you!" Naruto beams from behind him with a big smile, and of course, Sasuke is on the other side of him.  
"Please?" he says, but it isn't a real question. Tenten smiles,  
"Go ahead, Lee." she nods approvingly.  
"O-ok!" Lee nods quickly, and speeds off with Sasuke and Naruto leading him. They pull him off to the other side of the school where it's nice and quiet. "Is it really important..?" Lee raises a brow, but the two don't respond until they stop.  
"Yes." Sasuke finally answers calmly, folding his arms.  
"Ok..." Lee trails off into a whistle.  
"It's about Gaara." Naruto nods strongly. Lee is suddenly interested.  
"Remember when we were talking about all the team members from the Red Ghouls?" Sasuke says, staring at him quite intensely.  
"Yes." Lee nods seriously.  
"And the last one mentioned, Deidara?" Naruto leans to the side against the wall.  
"Uhuh..." Lee thinks off for a bit, then nods.  
"And then how we didn't want to talk about what the team is like?" Sasuke arches a brow, and Lee mimics the action.  
"That's Gaaras ex." Naruto says bluntly with a shrug, and Sasuke punches his arm.  
"Oh..." Lee wasn't expecting that. "Ok?" he adds softly.  
"Well, it was pretty bad to begin with, so we aren't suspposed to talk about him around Gaara. So we figured we would tell you about him now, just so you're in the loop." Sasuke nods.  
"Do you really think you should? It sounds like something Gaara-Sama wouldn't approve of..." Lee pushed his two index fingers together, looking away.  
"It's fine, Lee. You're part of the team now, you have to know sometime." Naruto sighed.  
"I just don't want him to be angry at me or-"  
"Lee. It's fine." Naruto interrupts with a light-hearted chuckle. He slowly nods with a quiet sigh, awaiting an explanation.  
"So..." Sasuke thinks back. "It was one of our first games last year, when we were firsts and the Ghouls were seconds, obviously. Before the game, Deidara was tempting Gaara into loosing the game on purpose. Gaara, being Gaara, went against him and played fair. But he did develop feelings for blondie during the game. And after, now being weak against him, Deidara seduced him into a forced relationship. He was rough with Gaara, and treated him like-"  
"Shit." Naruto sneered hard, interrupted Sasuke without a care. Lees eyes widened at the yellow-haireds sudden anger, but stayed quiet.  
"Y-yeah..." Sasuke glanced over at his bothered lover, then back at Lee. "... But even so we really do think Gaara loved him." he sighs. Lees expression softens, and he glances down at the ground feeling pretty upset. 'Gaara-Sama...' he frowns.  
"Even if Deidara tossed him around like a ragdoll.. Naruto growls angrily.  
"Calm down." Sasuke calmly rolls his eyes.  
"... How did it end?" Lee boldly states, but doesnt look up from the carpeted ground. It catches both of the boys off-guard, but Sasuke answers acting unfazed by the question.  
"We think that right before Gaara and Deidara got," the raven clears his throat, "'Intimate' blondie broke Gaaras heart and just left him." he shrugs  
"Seriously?" Lee growls, surprising both of them.  
"Yeah..." Sasuke becomes accustomed to the anger, as Narutos moods usually fluctuate quickly. Lee balls his fists in frustration, looking like how Naruto was only a few moments before.  
"... And after that?" Lee lets out a slow, pissed of breathe.  
"Gaara quite the team, didn't show up to school for a while, didn't go outside. I think he stopped eating for a little while too..." Naruto says softly, watching Lee to see his reaction. "I think that was also the first time we had heard of Gaara actually crying." he sighed. Lee gulps down all his frustration, and anger, and annoyance, and... a newfound hatred for someone he'd never even SEEN before. He slowly opens his mouth.  
"I... don't want to hear anymore."  
"But-"  
"I DONT." Lee looks up with a glare in his eyes, that was the first time they'd seen Lee really angry, and they didn't want to see it again. Naruto took a breathe and nodded.  
"Alright, understandable." Sasuke nods with him, and they both leave where they had been talking, with Lee following behind them so he wouldn't get lost.

Lee was, frankly, furious. He would be upset if that happened to any of his friends, but the fact it happened to Gaara tipped him over the edge. 'How could someone just do that?!' he gulps down anger, and annoyance, and hate. 'I cant just... say anything though.' Lee softens a bit. 'Gaara-Sama wouldn't be happy if he heard that Sasuke and Naruto told me without permission...' he frowns looking down at the ground.  
"So I cant say anything..." he mumbled.  
"What was that?" Sasuke looks over his shoulder.  
"Nothing." Lee says, looking up like nothing happened. Sasuke and Narutos eyes meet, but nothing is said.

~After School~

Lee met up with Hinata, Tenten, and Shikamaru to go to the extra tryouts. Choji had to leave early, so he wouldn't be watching, and Neji was who knows where.  
"This is so troublesome..." Shikamaru sighs, holding his hands behind his had as they walk.  
"I swear, Shikamaru, if you don't stop complaining..." Tenten growls, cracking her knuckles.  
"No no don't worry about it!" Lee waves his hands with awkward laughter.  
"I'm still gonna do it!" Shikamaru sighs and glances down at Hinata. "You nervous?" the purple haired slowly nods.  
"There's nothing to be afraid of Hinata!" Lee smiles brightly as they reach the field. The panel is there, but with two added people. Now with Ino, and Sai... and a certainly pissed off Sakura. Then right besides Gaara, an empty seat. Lee feels his heartbeat grow faster and he grins.  
"I'll make sure they're not too tough on you, don't even worry!" Lee smiles brightly and rushes off to meet besides his captain.  
"Hello Gaara-Sama!" he smiles brightly.  
"Hey, dork." Gaara smirks and nudges his arm, the three line up in front of the table.  
"So, you're Shikamaru, and you two ladies are...?" Gaara leans forward on his elbows.  
"I'm Tenten, and this is Hinata!" the brunette smiles brightly. Hinata just nods silently, her hands fidgeting at her sides.  
"Ok..." Gaara slowly nods, and looks at the male. "You know basic rules, correct?"  
"Of course." Shikamaru shrugs, chewing on a toothpick.  
"Go through all the team rules for multi-gendered teams, just the basics. But if you know the specifics, or for advanced teams, please do share." the red-head sighs, and Shikamaru hesitates for the moment.  
"Er..." he holds his mouth to the side, and slowly explains everything he knows rules-wise. Gaara isn't easily impressed, but he's pleasantly surprised. 'Wow!' Lee sits up and smiles brightly. 'He's really observational....' Lee relaxes a bit, they'll be just fine.  
"Do you play in the field?"  
"Not really." Shikamaru sighs.  
"At all though? If one of the team-members were to get injured, and we needed you in-game rather than just helping out, could you do it?"  
"Well yeah I guess." he nods. 'How troublesome...'  
"Good, I can say I'm happy..." Gaara glances over at Lee and winks, before looking back at the two girls. "Hm... Hinata!" he chooses.  
"Wha?!" She looks up, face wracked with nervousness.  
"Would you care to show me what you can do?" he asks calmly.  
"Gaara... Smile." Sakura nudges his foot with hers. He sighs, expression remaining the same.  
"U-um..." Hinata skittishly nods and moves the ball with her feet to the center of the field.  
"Anything will do." Gaara says loudly, crossing one leg over the other.  
"If you smiled more people would be less nervous, ya know." Sakura sighs.  
"Don't bother." Sasuke nudges her.  
"U-um... right, sorry." She blushes and nods.  
"Guys..." Lee frowns.  
"I'll be happy if all of you shut the Hell up and focus on the girl." Gaara says, lips formed into a line. Hinata works slowly and skittishly with the ball; and Gaara is honestly bored. He sighs and rests his head on his hand, ready to ask for Tenten to interfere.  
"Naruto, look." Kiba nudges the yellow-haired boys arm.  
"Eh? What is it?" Naruto glances around.  
"You don't see it?" Kiba raises a brow.  
"See what...?" Lee sits up. Kiba points to the tall figure coming towards the field. "Oh... hey it's Neji!" Lee smiles brightly, but his voice is hushed. Hinata still hears this though and immediently picks up the pace. She kicks the ball harder, runs faster, tries harder. She suddenly seems motivated to prove she can be helpful.  
"What does this Neji mean to Hinata?" Gaara notices this and say something, sitting up straight and folding his hands on the table.  
"They're cousins in love." Lee shrugs.  
"Oh, so she's trying to prove herself finally because he's here?" Gaara smirks softly, making Lees face go hot.  
"I-I guess..." Lee doesnt notice how she picked up in ambition once Neji came along. Once Hinata finished what she could do, she joined in the middle beside Shikamaru and Tenten.  
"Neji!" Gaara says loudly to everyone surprise.  
"What?" The tall boy looks up from his book.  
"Didn't Hinata play well?" Gaara cocks his head to the side with a still-lingering smirk.  
"That's not my place to judge." Neji shrugs.  
"But I'm asking you." Gaara goes cold, and the two stare at each other for a bit.  
'What's his game...?' Neji furrows his brows. "She did great." he finally answers without emotion, and looks down at his book, knowing he answered safely.  
"Yes, when you showed up." Gaara sighs and looks back at Hinata, who is staring desperately at the ground though. "Say, Hinata, if Neji were to show up at every game or practice you played, how do you think it would go?" She doesnt respond. "I really do think you did great but.." he glances off.  
"Gaara..." Sakura nudges his foot with hers.  
"Hush. I'm thinking." The captain sighs.  
"It's not that much of a problem though." Lee shrugs, leaning back comfortably.  
"What do you mean?" Gaara says, not looking to face him.  
"Well, Neji is her ride everywhere anyways. So he would have to watch her practices and games anyways." Lee smiles innocently.  
"I wouldn't." Ino crosses her arms.  
"That's cuz you would be a superficial older sister that treats her younger like shit." Sakura sneers. Gaara suddenly clasps his hands together before anyone can say anything else.  
"Tenten. Go." he says loudly. The brunette grins confidently and kicks the ball over to the center. Although yes, she doesnt know anymore about soccer than Hinata does, she's much bolder and confident. When she makes a mistake, she owns that mistake, and uses it to advantage.  
"Heh... rule breaker." Gaara smirks, and Lee stiffens nervously.  
"Nothing a little extra practice wont fix; right Sasuke-Kun?" Ino smiles perkily.  
"Yeah sure." Sasuke says quickly, glancing to Naruto. Ino seems to deflate in failure, and Sakura feels on top of the world.  
"I can beat it into her head, no worries. Gaara picks at his nails.  
"Y-you aren't serious... right?" Lee stares at him intensely.  
"No I'm serious. Naruto had to get beat a few times..." Gaara hisses with a smirk, and Naruto rolls his eyes. "I totally won a few of those.." the yellow-haired boy mumbles in-denial. "No. You didn't." Sasuke pats his back 'reassuringly'.  
"Alright well Tenten come here." The captain leans back, popping his neck and crossing his arms. The three join in front of the panel. "Shikamaru I think you would make a fantastic moderator and you would be a great help in assisting the team with strategy. Not to mention you know the rules inside-and-out and you're comfortable with being a back-up." Gaara shrugs. "Either-way, I want you on the team." he says bluntly, no one seems to deny the brunette would be a great help.  
"Eh... I'll think about it." he scratches the base of his ponytail. Gaara flexes his jaw.  
"Right..." he licks across his teeth then turns to look at the two females. "Hinata I need you to be confident whether Neji is or is not there. If you can do that, I don't have a problem with you joining. And Tenten..." he sighs. "You need a little slap in the head on what the hell rules are." Gaara says, putting that more lightly that he would like to.  
"I don't think either of them should be on." Sai says, the first thing he's said since they all got there.  
"Why is that?" Gaara looks over at the almost-albino.  
"Hinata would bore the audience, and she would probably end up out-of-game more than anyone else here. She'd be considered as another back up." he shrugs. "and Tenten is kind of like Ino, just less arrogant and more average." he says bluntly. Ino lights up in anger, glaring at him. Gaaras brows nit, giving him something new to think about.  
"Even so though... even if Hinata is just an extra player, it's always a blessing to have those..." Gaara stares off. Naruto stares at the captain quizzidly, not understanding why he's suddenly so out-of-it. Sasuke leans over and whispers.  
"Remember that one time ___ and we didn't have one ___ so we had to ___ and forfeit ___ that's what ___ we need one."  
"OHHHHHH." Naruto slaps his forehead, earning a glare from everyone.  
"Hmph." Sai looks away, clearly not agreeing with the captain.  
"I think I can do it!" Hinata suddenly says with a strong nod, and Gaara smirks. "Good. Then you're on."  
"I can try my best to stick to the basics, and not be too flashy.." Tenten chuckles embarrassedly, rubbing the back of her neck.  
"Good. You're on to. And Shikamaru?"  
"Yeah yeah... fine I'm in." the male sighs.  
"Victory..." Gaara purrs under his breathe. '12 players, oh I love it.' he spins his chair and then stands up. "I can get uniforms to you three by, at latest, Thursday..." he analyzes the three of them. "Probably large, small, medium." he nods to himself. Tenten blushes.  
"Don't... do that." she crosses her arms. The red-head sticks out his tongue and turns back to everyone else. "Naruto, Sasuke, Kiba, Sakura. We're still going out right?" he sighed unwillingly as everyone picked up.  
"Yeah but..." Sakura holds her mouth to the side, looking at Sasuke.  
"You cant pay this time, can you?" Gaara sighs.  
"Well, no." Sasuke sighs.  
"Where are you guys going?" Lee asks curiously.  
"Well we wanted to go out to dinner, and this time it was Sasukes turn to pay. But he doesnt have the money again." Kiba slaps Sasukes back.  
"Oh... I have the money." Lee shrugs, just trying to be nice. Gaara stands straight and turns to look at him.  
"Do you?" he says, sounding interested.  
"Yeah." Lee smiles brightly and shrugs.  
"I do too." Ino and Tenten both add. The four glance at each other.  
"Let's have a team dinner..." Gaara shrugs, but was really only interested in Lee being there. "We're all chipping in though." he adds. "You too Sasuke." he smirks and nudges the tallers arm.  


~At Ichiraku Ramen~

"Table for 9 please." Gaara sighs, Hinata had to leave with Neji before they left and couldn't come.  
"Right... follow me." A woman in uniform smiles and leads the young group to a large table. Naturally, Gaara sits at the head of the table, and Lee down across from him. Naruto and Sasuke sit beside each other, with a rivaled Ino and Sakura across from them. Kiba and Shikamaru were across from each other, and Tenten sat beside Lee with an empty chair across from her.  
"What are you getting? I don't wanna look through the menu..." Tenten chuckles, leaning forward on the table.  
"Medium bowl with thin noodles and extra spice, ya lazy." Lee laughs, nudging her.  
"I am not." she crosses her arms with a chuckle. The waitress comes back over, and they order their drinks.  
"Yeah just water is..." Naruto smiles, but pauses, staring off towards the front of the building.  
"Naruto." Gaara says, but gets no response. Instead, Naruto holds up his hand and lightly pushes Sasukes shoulder, before pointing off to where he was standing. At the entrance of Ichirakus, still dressed in uniform were the Red Ghouls.  
"Oh shit..." Sasukes eyes widen.  
"What?" Gaara snaps impatiently.  
"Its, err..." Sasuke clears his throat, glancing off. Being that they, the Champions, are also in their uniforms they are easy to spot. And they catch the Ghouls attention quickly. All 11 of them walk over, and the table falls into silence.  
"Hi, Itachi." Sasuke growls, his brother doesnt respond. Gaara gulps and stares down at the table, feeling a presence behind him.  
"Hello my honey~" a tall, blonde boy leans down and places his hands on Gaaras shoulders. The red-head grips the table tightly, refusing to answer back. Lee is just staring at each of them. 'Is that... Deidara..?' he flexes his jaw. "Aw come on kitten!" the blonde flicks a strand of Gaaras hair. "I haven't seen your pretty face in so long~" he leans down to Gaaras ear and whispers as the youngers nails dig into the table.  
"Stop it!" Lee suddenly stands, slamming his hands on the table. Deidara flicks his head up with an amused look.  
"And who's this?" he stands up, lightly rubbing Gaaras shoulders and earning shudders.  
"Rock Lee, new player. I may not know much about you, but you need to fucking stop right now!" Lee bares his teeth, rarely using obscene language.  
"Ooh, a feisty one." Sasori smirks.  
"And he already knows who I am, Gaara you sure like to kiss and tell don't you?" Deidara licks across his lips, the red-head bares his teeth.  
"Lee's right you need to shut the Hell up!" Now Naruto joins Lee in his stand. "Who gave you the right to speak to him that way?!"  
"HE did, right before we-" Deidara smirks, but Sasuke stands up calmly, picks up his water glass, and throws the water in both Diedara and Itachi's faces. 'Ooh, bonus.' Itachi barely flinches while Deidaras has dropped. "You really just..." Deidara stood up, taking off his vest to wipe off his shirt with it.  
"I'll beat his ass later for it." Itachi crosses his arms, glaring at his junior.  
"As if." Sasuke rolls his eyes.  
"Oi, she found a table." Kisame says, just wanting to eat.  
"Yeah, alright." Deidara nods and the others walk. "Later babe, I'll see you and your little crew at the tournament~" Deidara lets his fingers brush against Gaaras cheek, and walks off.  
"I can't fucking believe them." Kiba growls, glaring at the back of their heads as they walk. Naruto, Lee, and Sasuke sit back down.  
"That was damn braze of you guys though." Ino sighs.  
"Damn stupid..." Sakura stares at them.  
"If we hadn't said anything Gaara-Sama would have-" Before Lee can finish, the captain pushes back his chair and stands up, still looking down.  
"Gaara..." Sai starts, but without saying anything the red-head walks off to the entrance, and leaves. Really everyone is shocked. Lee stands though.  
"I'm going to go talk to him." he says confidently.  
"You really shouldn't." Sasuke sighs. Naruto nods.  
"Like I was saying, if we hadn't stood up to them Gaara would be more upset than he already is; I guarantee it." Lee glares at the couple, then leaves the table. Tenten sighs.  
"He's stubborn, aint he?" she draws patterns on the table.  
"Him and Naruto both." Sasuke snickers, Naruto punches his arm. Lee walks outside and looks around. To the left, there's a shadow from the side of the building. Lee frowns and walks around to it, and finds Gaara, huddled up against the wall with his arms hugged tight against his chest and his head low. Lee feels his heart break and slowly slands beside him.  
"Sasuke and Naruto told you?" The shorter is the first to speak, although very quietly.  
"Yeah.." Lee respinds in the same hushed tone.  
"Gossip girls they are.." he sighs, holding the sleeves on his shirt.  
"I'm sorry they told me without your permission." Lee sighs.  
"Well, I wanted to be the first to tell you actually." Gaara quietly shrugs.  
"What do you mean...?" The taller replies softly, head a bit tilted.  
"I haven't told anyone else the real story of what happened between us yet, everyone only knows whats been hinted." Gaara admits. "So they probably told you the story of whats been pieced together, not the real one." he mumbles.  
"Well... I don't think you'd want to talk to me about it now?" Lee asks softly. Gaara shakes his head.  
"No." he sighs softly.  
"Gaara-Sama, I know that what happened cant be changed or taken back, but I am really sorry... from the bottom of my heart. About what happened to you with him, and how he still treats you now I see." Lee says honestly, staring at the wall. "And I want to be able to help you as much as a can, even though I think I cant do much for you." Lee turns to look at the shorter and softly smiles, before stepping in and hugging Gaara lovingly. "Because I really do like you Gaara-Sama! When you're unhappy it makes me unhappy! And I cant have myself thinking that you're upset!" Lee smiles brightly. Gaara is silent against him, hands still lazily down by his sides.  
'You... asshole.' he thinks and holds back a sniffle. He doesnt even have a reply to Lees kind words, he isn't really used to them. But he knows, if he doesnt hug back, Lee will be upset. Gaara breathes out and slowly hugs the taller boy back, a small smile even curling from his lips. "Alright, Lee..." he says quietly. 'I'll give you another shot, you shit.' He chuckles internally and nuzzles his head against Lees chest. "Why are you so warm?" he mumbles.  
"Why are you so cold...?" Lee laughs, hugging him tighter.  
"Oh lord.." he sighs. "Well we cant hug anymore unless you always stay this warm, got it?" he says.  
"Gaara-Sama I'll always hug you no matter what." Lee giggles. Gaaras face goes hot whether he wants to admit it or not.  
"That's... unnecessary." he says embarrassedly.  
"If it makes you happy!" Lee laughs and releases. Gaara lets out a big breathe like something heavy had been lifted off of his chest. Lee, still having his arms holding the red-heads, studies him.  
"What...?" Gaara furrows his brows, staring at him seriously.  
"You're adorable, Gaara-Sama." Lee giggles with a bright blush and leans down, placing a chaste kiss to the crown of his head.  
"W-wha?! No!" Gaara flushes and pulls away, shaking his head. "Ill beat your ass.." he growls, crossing his arms.  
"I don't think you would, Gaara-Sama." Lee smiles.  
"Lets just go back inside, alright?" Gaara sighs. Lee hoped he would get a smile out of that, but to prevail, he just follows Gaaras lead.  
"Ok!" Lee nods happily.  
"Come on, puppy." Gaara rolls his eyes and they walk back into the ramen restaurant. The teams table evidently notices a change in atmosphere with the two.  
"Lee certainly has an effect on Gaara." Sai says with a soft smirk.  
"I know, it's pretty cute, huh?" Tenten giggles.  
"No." Shikamaru grows, glancing away.  
"Wow, I forgot you were even here..." Naruto says dumbly, then starts laughing.  
"Troublesome idiot..." Shikamaru sighs.  
"Why are you cranky all the sudden?" Sasuke snickers.  
"Babys probably tired." Tenten teases.  
"No, I just don't know what the hell I became part of." Shikamaru rolls his eyes.  
"Stop complaining." Gaara sits down again.  
"Everything ok...?" Sakura chuckles, raising a brow. 'Lee cant really make him feel better right? Like, get him back to normal? Someone like that doesnt just come along out of the blue...' she narrows her eyes, stalking Lee with her eyes as he sits.  
"U-um yeah..." Lee blushes at her stare. Gaara narrows his, now staring at Sakura. And Lee raises a brow staring at Gaara.  
"Its fine, Sakura." he says calmly, but is obviously suspicious.  
"Alright well!" Naruto smiles, clapping his hands together to break the triangle of stares. "I think the lady is coming back over so we can order!" he grins.  
"And that's the only reason you're here." Sasuke snickers.  
"No!" Naruto puffs his cheeks, glaring at his lover. Just as the yellow-haired concluded, the waitress came over and everyone ordered. Tenten and Lee shared a bowl because they both wanted the same thing, much to Gaaras disliking. 'Better than cotton-candy head.' he glances over at Sakura, then back down at his bowl. 'He kissed me...' Gaaras face goes hot again. 'It's been a while since I got one from him... 8 years...' he reminisces about when they were little, and Lee kissed his cheek when he fell and scraped his knees. 'The idiot is the exact same.' Gaara looks up and meets Lees eyes, and noticing no one else is looking, he flashes the taller a small half-smile and looks away. Tenten raises a brow, seeing that Lee is now totally swooning.  
"Did I miss something?" she asks confused.  
"... Yeah..." Lee says distantly with a grin plastered to his face. 'Gaara-Sama smiled to me!!' he thinks in victory.  
"What happened?!' Tenten sits up excitedly.  
"Nothing! Nothing!" Lee places his hands on his cheeks, shaking his head.  
"Idiot..." Gaara smiles quietly under his breathe.  
Once the team finishes their dinner and pays, they all meet outside; hoping to leave before the Ghouls as soon as possible. Sasuke and Naruto left together, then Ino, Shikamaru, and Kiba left together; leaving Sakura, Tenten, Lee, and Gaara. And there is no way in hell Gaara will be leaving without Lee. Before Sakura can even make the proposition of them all leaving together, Gaara interrupts.  
"Lee you should walk home with me." He says, looking up at Lee seriously.  
"R-really? Well if you want me to.." Lee smiles bashfully, and Gaara takes hold of his hand. "S-see you guys tomorrow!" Lee waves to the girls, face flushed, and Gaara pulls him off. "That was weird." Tenten chuckles awkwardly, looking over to Sakura.  
"I know..." Sakura narrows her eyes, then smiles. "Lets go." her and Tenten walk off in the opposite direction.  
"Why are you-"  
"Hush." Gaara cuts Lee off, and pulls him towards the house.  


~Gaaras House~

The pair arrive to the front of Gaaras house. In the driveway, theres a black motorcycle still running, and an idle silver car. Gaara bares his teeth and walks through the front door, Lee follows quickly. "Kankurou!" the red-head suddenly yells, making Lee jumps.  
"What?" a mature voice yells back from the kitche. Gaara pulls Lee there quickly.  
"You're bike is on again." Gaara crosses his arms, meeting in front of a brown haired not-too-similar looking boy.  
"Yeah but this time I'm going somewhere." The older sets down a now empty glass of who-knows-what. His eyes focus on Lee, and a smirk curls from the corners of his lips.  
"Heh... it's been some time." he says smugly.  
"W-wha..?" Lee scrunches his face, not understanding what the older meant. Gaaras face lights up as if he just remember something.  
"Lee, I'll be right back, stay here." The shorter says and leaves the kitchen. Lees eyes stalk him as he walks up the stairway behind them, then turn back to meet the olders.  
"Now it makes sense why the small-fry wont shut up about you." Kankurou snickers. 'What a hot piece of ass you have grown to be..' he bites his lip.  
"Gaara-Sama.. talks about me?" Lee blushes bright red.  
"Oh yeah." Kankurou snickers. "And it's no wonder why..." he practically purrs and takes a step closer to the younger.  
"W-what?" Lees blush dissipates, and his expression fills with confusion. He takes a step back and finds he's been cornered.  
"Probably hasn't made a move though yet, has he?" Kankurou pins Lee against the wall, one hand by the youngers head and the other by his hip.  
"P-please don't... Gaara-sama wont... be happy..." Lee blushes brightly, and turns his head the other way.  
"Well 'Gaara-Sama' isn't here right now, is he..?" Kankurou smirks and tilts his head a bit, leaning in closer.  
"I-I really d-don't think..." Lee winces, closing his eyes tightly. Kankurou is about to press his lips against the youngers neck, before a loud yell intervenes.  
"KANKUROU!!" Gaaras now booming voice erupts from behind them on the stairway. The red-head is furious down to bone, gripping the wooden rail so tight it might snap down the center. Kankurou sighs, licking across his teeth before pulling away.  
"Problem...?" he crosses his arms. Gaara is literally about to explode in anger, but Lee interrupts.  
"Please don't!" he steps up with a nervous look.  
"Lee... come with me..." Gaara gulps down more shrieks and yells.  
"Maybe you two should talk though-"  
"Now. Lee." Gaara bares his canines.  
"If you leave with me you wont get treated like shit." Kankurou smirks, throwing on a leather jacket.  
"I-I'm fine, thanks." Lee sighs with a light blush and walks to a flaming Gaara. "Come on." Lee whispers, grabbing his hand and pulling him up the stairs.  
"Later babe." Kankurou smirks loudly after putting on a pair of dark sunglasses, not specifying who he was talking about before leaving. Gaara digs his nails into Lees hand, but the taller doesnt mind. Gaara soon leads Lee to his room, and closes the door behind him with a loud thud. The room looks like it had just been cleaned; that must of been what Gaara left to do.  
"Are you ok...?" Lee asks softly, looking at him with a concerned frown.  
"What about you?" Gaara quickly follows, stepping forward and looking up at him. "I'm getting real sick and fucking tired of him... Im sorry." Gaara answers honestly and crosses his arms.  
Lee frowns again and steps closer "I should have said something." he sighs and slowly hugs Gaara. "Brotherly rivalries cant really be helped though." he says softly. Gaaras eyes are wide, he never really gets hugged sincerely, three times in one day that is, and he doesnt really like to either. But, it was Lee. He was never able to just refuse Lees hugs, or things would get more emotional than they should over a hug. The red-head slowly moved his arms around Lees waist.  
"Sure..." he just mumbles, not really knowing what to say. The two slowly rock, and fuzzy memories come back. Gaara feels warm, and comforted, relaxing more into his old friend. "I know you get nervous about that stuff, so..." the shorter sighs (referring to romantic happenings), lightly gripping the back of Lees sweater.  
"I told you about that?" Lee blushes brightly, their both now rocking in circles unconsciously. Gaara presses his forehead against his friends chest, faintly able to hear the heartbeat. He slowly sighs, eyes darkening. "Sure." he says quietly. 'He... still doesnt...' Gaara grits his teeth and pulls back, putting up his cold front again. "Are we.. dancing?" he makes a sour face.  
"Eh? Uh..." Lee looks down at their feet, then back to the red-heads eyes. "Yeah, I guess we are." he laughs.  
"Stop." Gaara looks away.  
"What? Why?" Lee giggles, holding the shorter tighter against him. Gaara flushes as bright as his hair and refuses to make eye contact.  
"B-because I don't dance." He lies.  
"You're great at this..." Lee arches a brow.  
"Without music it's weird." He lies again.  
"Come on Gaara-Sama! Don't be like that!" Lee giggles, and pokes the shorters stomach. Gaara gasps,  
"Don't do that!" he tries to pull back, but Lee stops him.  
"Why...?" Lee smirks, and pokes him again.  
"Stop!" Gaara tries to pull away again, it looks like the corners of his mouth are attempting a curl.  
"You're ticklish...?" Lees smirk grows.  
"No! No no no!" Gaara shakes his head rapidly, and Lee starts tickling him. "Stop it! L-Lee stop!" Gaara is forced to grin. "Seriously!" Gaara squirms around, trying his hardest to conceal laughter.  
"You know you want to laugh! Come on!" Lee is relentless. Finally, Gaara cant handle it any more and starts laughing hysterically, and it is damn adorable. Lees eyes widen, and he freezes up for a moment. "OHMYGOD GAARA!" Lee beams and giggles like a teenage girl, and wraps the red-head up in his arms. Gaara, stunned, can't really do anything about it anyways.  
"P-put me down!" he's dark red again.  
"No way!!" Lee snuggles him.  
"I hate you! Stop it!" Gaara blabbers, just trying to get out of the bucks grasp. During the struggle though, Gaara kicks Lees foot, and they're sent toppling onto the shorters bed. Of course, Lee doesnt have a care in the world and is still giggling like an idiot. But Gaara is freaking out on the inside.  
"L-Lee!" he snaps embarrassedly, hands pinned above his head.  
"What is it this time?" Lee giggles and slowly calms down. Taking note of Gaaras ridiculous blush, he examines everything else. "O-oh..." Straddling Gaaras hips, pinning his hands above his head, his shirt half lifted. This really is not what it looks like. Lee blushes deep scarlet and immediently jumps to his feet. "I-I am so sorry Gaara-Sama! I-it wont happen again!" he says nervously. Gaara bites his lip and slowly sits up.  
"You're fine, Lee..." he doesnt make eye contact.  
"I really didn't mean to!" Lee presses.  
"I said you're fine!" Gaara sighs and folds his arms. "It's not like I really yelled at you or anything..." Gaara mumbles.  
"I-I know but... that was embarrassing for you, wasn't it?" Lee sighs. Gaara doesnt respond; it wasn't that embarrassing, but he couldn't just tell Lee that he liked it. "... I should go." Lee mumbles with a frown, looking down at his feet.  
"You didn't do anything wrong." The red-head responds quietly.  
"I-I... just should. It's late now, anyways." Lee shuffles his feet around nervously. Gaara sighs and nods.  
"Right... of course." As Lee makes it to the door, he speaks up again. "You're going to be at practice tomorrow morning, right?" he speaks more boldly than he would like. Gaara doesnt even know why he asked, it just sort of came out. Lee pauses, then nods.  
"Yeah, I wouldn't miss it." he shrugs. Something tight pulls in Gaaras chest, and he clamps down on the sheets.  
"You... promise, right?" Gaara doesnt look up from his lap.  
"Yeah. I promise." Lee smiles without showing his teeth, and briefly looks over his shoulder. "Good night Gaara-Sama, bye."  
"... bye Lee." Gaara mutters, and the taller leaves his room. Gaara lets out a long sigh and falls back on his bed.  


~Flashback: 8 Years~

"You promise though? Tomorrow! Even if we're still in the car!" Gaara stares at Lee with wide eyes.  
"Of course! I wouldn't miss it for the world!" Lee grabs Gaaras smaller hands and holds them happily. Gaara pouts.  
"I don't wanna go..." he looks down at the floor.  
"I don't want you to go either, but Ill always call you! Just like I will tomorrow!" Lee hugs his friend tightly with a grin.  
"Stop hugging me!" Gaara squirms around. "Its sadder to say bye now.." he pouts again, sticking out his bottom lip.  
"Come on, Gaara. Time to go." Rasa says loudly, closing the back of the moving truck.  
"W-what about Temari and Kankurou??" Gaara shuffles around to face his father.  
"They're already in the car." Rasa sighs and picks the dinky boy up.  
"... You promise." Gaara grips onto his fathers shirt.  
"I promise!" Lee salutes with a giggle. "Bye Gaara! Don't let the buggies in the car bite you on the way to your new home!" he waves.  
"Bye Lee..." Gaara mumbles into his dads shoulder with a sniffle.  
"Yes, goodbye Lee." Rasa says politely and sits his seven-year-old in the truck, before pulling out of the driveway, and leaving the small neighborhood.  


~Present Time~

Gaara clutches his hand over his chest, teeth gritted and breathes ragged. He hates those memories with a passion, but can never get rid of them. He's about to shout out, but gulps the words down. "You... fucking promised. You better fucking be there." Instead he whispers solemnly. "And dear god don't say a word to Kankurou if you see him." Gaaras words turn into groans and he rolls over on the bed, burying his face in his pillow. "... I hate you both." he breathes out, clutch on the sheets releasing. Gaara slowly drifts into sleep without changing, even though he knows the consequences of falling asleep so easily after having troubling thoughts.  



	6. Fueled By Nightmares

"DON'T!" Gaara cries out, sitting straight up in his bed. His hands lunge out, attempting to grab for anything. But with nothing to hold onto, they recoil back to him, and cross over his chest. Gaara's in a spastic, cold-sweat having just woken up from another nightmare. "Don't die..." he mutters unconsciously, gripping tightly onto his blue sweaters sleeves. As his breathing slows, Gaara slowly wakes and comes back to reality. "It was just..." 'A nightmare.' he finishes in his head, blinking slowly. The red-head gulps and brings his knees to his chest, curling more-or-less into a ball. "It's 5 am, an hour before I should be getting ready to leave again..." he whispers, as this happens every night he's gotten good at predicting the time. "Damn." he recalls the nightmare, and a single tear slips down his cheek without warning. 'Don't be a little bitch about it.' Gaara jerks his palm against his cheek to smear the unwanted tear away. 'Nothing new, just get over it.' He brushes the upsetting and fuzzy memories away and comes to a stand beside his bed. Light that barely streams through the windows illuminates shiny trophies, awards, ribbons, etc. When he's alone, seeing them makes Gaara feel shitty. But when other people are over, he has no problem having them presented in clear sight. The captain sighs and ever-so carefully and silently steps into the hallway. Glancing around to make sure Kankurou or Temari weren't out or awake, he slips into the bathroom and swiftly closes the door behind him. As usual, his hair is messy and spiky, that portion cant be helped. But since he slept in uniform, Gaara's once presentable clothing is now wrinkled and covered in black fuzz from the bed sheets. The red-head curses under his breathe and decides taking a shower won't help the messy outfit, so he skips that and cleans the fuzz off best he can with a lint-roller. After, Gaara straightens the clothes and leaves the bathroom, dark circles under his eyes and all. 'I look like shit.' he admits in his head, carefully walking down the stairs. 'Temari will be on my ass for looking so cruddy.' Gaara hops up onto the kitchen counter with a sigh. "It's not like we're around each other much during the day anyways..." he quietly sneers under his breathe and takes a glance to the window. The weather today is the opposite of what it had been the day before; now it's windy, the skies are gloomy, it could even rain. "Even though its only 5:30, it could rain soon... I don't want to get caught in that." Gaara mutters, dismissing the fact the team would, if it did rain, have to practice soccer outside regardless. The captain stands and takes a dark red coat with brown fur-trim around the hood from the coat closet and throws it on.  
"Why are you leaving so early?" Temari steps down from the staircase and yawns quietly, wearing a violet colored pullover and grey shorts.  
"Because I don't want to get rained on." Gaara turns to meet her, and shoves one hand into his pocket.  
"You're an impatient shit, that's why." Temari snickers jokingly and hugs her younger sibling without receiving the kind gesture back. "You haven't eaten yet though?" she questions, walkinbg to the kitchen.  
"No, but I'll be fine. I can steal a sandwich from the lunchroom or whatever." Gaara answers lazily, picking up his backpack from the floor by the front door.  
"Whatever. Have a good day." Temari yawns again.  
"Sure." Gaara mumbles, and leaves the house. 'It's not like she would make me breakfast or anything.' he internally rolls his eyes as he walks down the road. As the short boy walks down the road, the brisk wind hits his face, and his nose and cheeks become a bright, rosy pink. Gaara sniffles, keeping silent as he walks with hunched shoulders. As the red-head comes to a cross-walk, he sees 3 figures walking closer to his right. Gaara scoffs bitterly in dis-interest and keeps walking. Being shorter than all three figures though, he walks the slowest; thus the figures catch up to him easily.  
"It's not like I remember much anyways..." a chipper voice laughs behind him, it's familiar.  
"That's a little weird though, dont'cha think?" a slightly more feminine voice chuckles.  
"I'd have to agree, an event like that wouldn't be easy to forget." a mature voice follows. They're all familiar in some way, but Gaara cant tell in what. Soon enough though, the three figures advance past Gaara, and they catch his eye immediently. The red-heads pace slows, and he gawks at the figures still walking. One of them though, the one with a large green hoodie, stops and turns around. Of course, Gaara should have known.  
"H-hi, Gaara-Sama!" The taller, bowl-cut haired boy smiles bashfully.  
"Lee..." Gaara whispers absentmindedly to himself, then blinks and lightly blushes. "Hello, Lee." he says distantly, and brushes past him. The other two quickly notice; it's Tenten and Neji.  
"Someone isn't a morning person." Tenten smirks, and the four are eventually walking in a line. Lee frowns.  
"Are you tired...?" He lightly pokes Gaara's cheek bone, and the shorter jerks his head away.  
"No." he replies sternly.  
'Aww he's so adorable!!' Lee thinks and giggles "Then why are you so moody?" he says light-heartedly.  
"Because." Gaara answers indirectly. Neji rolls his eyes and pulls his hands out of his grey jackets pockets.  
"He's an insomniac, Lee. I wouldn't be very happy in the morning either if I were one." The tallest makes gestures with his slender hands.  
"Really?" Lee says, shocked, and looks down at Gaara. "I didn't know you didn't sleep."  
"Well I didn't tell either of you." Gaara half-mumbles and crosses his arms, looking away.  
"You show all the signs." Neji shrugs and slides his hands back into his pockets.  
"... I did sleep last night though." Gaara adds quietly.  
"Really?" Lee perks up a bit.  
"Did you dream?" Tenten asks, trying to look on the brighter side.  
"No." Gaara answers bitterly.  
"No...?" Lee clocks his head to the side, confused.  
"If I slept, but didn't dream, what do you think I did Lee?" The red-head is sort of testing him, and meets the tallers eyes. Lee holds his mouth to the side, pondering the question.  
"He had nightmares, Lee." Neji rolls his eyes again. 'Idiot.' he thinks, but doesnt bother to speak the comment out loud.  
"Oh!... Oh..." Lee's expression fades, and he frowns. Gaara averts his eyes. "About?" Lee asks gently.  
"None of your business." Gaara answers, annoyance in his tone.  
'How weird...' Tenten holds her mouth to the side, then changes the topic. "So whats practice gonna be like today, captain?" she smiles brightly.  
"Hm? Oh, err...." Gaara clears his throat, admittedly he hadn't come up with anything yet. "Well, because we have a lot of new teammates we'll be doing partner exercises." The red-head comes up with something on a whim and goes with it.  
"Sounds nice." Neji says, and Tenten nos, but Lee stays silent.  
'Ugh, the dopey idiot is worried about me, isn't he.' Gaara thinks and sighs "Lee, you think you can be my partner?" he asks, and gets the tallers attention quickly.  
"U-um, yeah! Of course!" Lee nods ambitiously.  
"You better not disappoint me." Gaara looks from him back forward. Lee's eyes are wide, he probably haden't expected that from the captain, the attention that is.  
"Y-yes! I mean, I wont!" Lee stutters awkwardly.

After a long while of walking and chit-chatting, the four finally make it to the school. "Bye Neji." Tenten and Lee both smile, and including Gaara, they walk in a different direction. Neji doesnt respond, just flicks his wrist as a wave.  
"Tenten, I have your uniform back in the locker room; you can tell the others that too. I gotta go... do something." Gaara says indirectly.  
"Huh? Ok." Tenten chuckles with the raise of a brow. Lee just shrugs and Gaara leave their sides and walks inside the school. He takes the short route to the lunch room, and to his luck, no one is there. He slowly breathes out and walks behind the lunch counter to examine the different sandwiches.  
"Peanut Butter Jelly, Bacon Lettuce Tomato, Ham and Mayo, Meat-"  
"Gaara!" a familiar voice sounds from the lunch rooms doors, interrupting Gaara's mumbling.  
"What Naruto?" Gaara sighs in annoyance, his stomach growls quietly.  
"Our own captain is going to miss practice." Naruto grabs Gaaras wrist.  
im ready ajr

"But I need to-"  
"No excuses!" Naruto smirks and sticks his tongue out, forcing the captain to be pulled along.  
'Imbecile.' Gaara places his hand over his yet-again growling stomach. "If anything I would have only been late; You know that." he says, mostly to himself.  
"Well..." Naruto starts, but trails off in a failed attempt to converse. He pulls the captain to the locker rooms in silence, and after changing the team meets out on the field. Gaara stands before each of them, arms folded.  
"Today we'll be drilling partner exercises and kicks. Get close with your partner; whether they just joined or not." He says strongly, and each of the team members nod in approval. "Lets do... Hinata and Kiba, Sakura and Naruto, Ino and Sasuke, Tenten and Shikamaru, then Lee you're with me as promised. Now, two lines horizontal across the field." the captain orders. The teams of two group to their places, Ino and Sakura glaring daggers at each other. 'That should be interesting.' Gaara smirks internally, and stands at the far left with Lee. "Start with simple passes, I don't care if you want to do something special with them." Gaara yawns.  
"Um..." Tenten shyly raises her hand.  
"Its preferred you kick with the rear to your partners lead foot, Tenten." Gaara stares with disinterest.  
"Right! Totally!" She nonchalantly waves her hand.  
"I could have told you that." Shikamaru shakes his head.  
"Yeah I know." Tenten crosses her arms stubbornly. Gaara averts his gaze to Lee as one person from each group gets a soccer ball.  
"Go get one." He says softly, and Lee obediently does as told. 'Heh, like a little puppy.' he watches his partner come back with the ball, and Lee drops it on the ground. "And you won't disappoint...?" The captain shows a light-hearted smirk, kicking the ball up with his foot.  
"No way!" Lee smirked back as the captain made the first pass. It was swift, anf fast, with great aim. But Gaara was clearly, and obviously, holding back. Lee was admittedly surprised at first but caught the pass, and returned it well. Gaaras eyes widened a bit with a pleased, approving look.  
"Damn, trying to show off again." Naruto sneers under his breathe, passing the ball towards Sakura more aggressively than he wanted.  
"You wanted to try to prove yourself again?" Sakura snickered, returning it. "Jelly much?"  
"I'm not jealous!" Naruto huffs, kicking the ball back. "I can do way better though." he rolls his eyes.  
"Maybe you should have better control of where you kick then." Sakura points to the ball that had passed far behind her and to the right of her.  
"O-oh... right." Naruto smiles goofily, scratching the back of his neck. Gaara and Lee are passing back and forth, the captains kicks getting more and more difficult to return each time.  
'Why is he so perfect at this...' Gaara thinks, getting aggravated over something silly. 'He should have at least missed ONE pass by now!' the captain grits his teeth behind his lips. "You're slowing down?" he asks calmly, but with malice behind the answer.  
"Gaara-Sama, why is the pace picking up so quickly?" Lee struggles to keep up.  
'Something you can't handle?' Gaara takes in a sharp breathe and bares his teeth, suddenly kicking the ball at full force without holding back. Lees eyes widen at the sudden force, and out of instinct he accidentally closes his eyes and just kicks best he can to either, A. Not get hit in the face, and/or B. Not miss the ball. Silence spreads across the field, and all motions are stopped. The confusion is heavy in the air, mixed with concern. Lee didn't even notice; Although he did kick the ball, it costed him landing flat on his ass. He slowly opens his eyes and winces a bit.  
".... Nice bicycle kick." Naruto admits bluntly, and Sasuke slaps him upside the head. "Ow!" He hisses, rubbing his head. Lee looks up to see Gaara, just standing with his fists balled at his sides, and forelocks covering his eyes. Gaara wasn't jealous, or envious. He wasn't even really angry at Lee. It wasn't his fault Gaara couldn't witness the talent Lee had earlier. It's the feeling of loss, or maybe emptiness that's making the red-head so damn bitter. He didn't get to see Lee use that talent, didn't get to play the sport with him earlier, didn't have the time with Lee that he wants. That he's been wanting. Gaara slowly looks up, wind blowing the bright red hair away from his eyes. The silent field is interrupted with the sound of the shorts footsteps coming closer to Lee. The captain holds out his hand unwillingly, refusing to make eye contact with his team-mate on the ground. Lee furrows his brows and just stares at the pale hand.  
'What just happened?' Lee asks himself internally, even though he knows half-of the answer. "Gaara-Sama." he speaks. "Did I do something?" he slowly takes the captains hand and stands. Not getting an answer, Lee sighs and distances himself from the shorter, then kicks the ball over to him. 'That got his attention.' He thinks, and stands tall. "You should try again, I wasn't ready for a kick like that, I should have been expecting one anyways without warning." he shrugs simply. Gaara arches a confused brow, analyzing the taller. "Well? We shouldn't waste practice time." Lee smiles brightly, and the captains eyes widen.  
'Why is he so chipper?' Gaara furrows his brows, and slowly passes the ball between each foot, before kicking it with less power.  
"Oh, come on." Lee stops the ball with his foot.  
'Oh really?' Gaara's stance shifts, his side is more facing Lee now than the front of his body. The team is watching the two now with interest, waiting to see what would come next. Lee kicks the ball back, and the captain stops it. He briefly clears his throat quietly, before swiftly spinning on his left foot, and kicking the ball at full-force with his right. Now well prepared for what was to come, Lee ambitiously mimics the action of his captain and kicks it right back.  
"Woah!" Naruto smiles watching them.  
"Lee-Kun..." Hinata marvels. The talented team of two go back and forth until they're each worn out.  
"See? I... did better." Lee says breathlessly, and slowly smiles. Gaara calms his breathing quickly, but doesnt respond.  
'That's not quite what I was looking for but...' The captain shows the slightest hint of a smile, and just simply nods. Lee's expression lights up, and he's suddenly full of energy again. Gaara turns to look at the rest of his team though, who seemed to be just waiting for the next instructions. "Did I ever say the next drill was to stop?" he's serious again. The team straightens up and shakes their heads. "Ok then. First, I want Lee to switch with Sasuke." Gaara starts with a sigh. 'Regrettably.' Ino frowns at that decision. She didn't even have time to 'accidentally' trip and fall into her knight in shining armors arms! And now she has to work with Lee? Oh what fun. Naruto isn't very happy either. Not only can he still not work with Gaara to prove himself better than the others, but he cant even work with his boyfriend! What's up with that?! "And then Kiba switch with Tenten." he finishes, then quickly regrets the decision. Holding his mouth to the side, Gaara changes his plan. "Actually, Sakura and Lee you two switch." The captain shows a light smirk.  
'Damn it!' Both Sakura and Ino curse internally, and meet with each other. And although Naruto wants to prove himself better than Lee, by all means, he still accepts Lee as a good friend so far.  
"I won't be too hard on ya!" Naruto laughs heartily, and Lee just smiles and nods.  
"This time..." Gaara goes on about the next drill, and the teams get back to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not familiar with soccer (or football >3>) lingo , so sorry if that maybe didn't make sense?


	7. 'Matsuri' Has Joined The Party!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Matsuri is finally invited into the story! I personally would have liked to see a lot more of her in the anime, er, her and Gaaras relationship in the anime for that matter. Which is probably why I was kind of excited about bringing her in. (I also hope to bring in Konohamaru in a later chapter.) I wish I kind of knew more about her personality but, hey, what can I do.

After the long practice, the team resorted back to their respective locker rooms to change back into their uniforms.  
In the girls locker room, as usual, they were just chatting away. Ino and Sakura arguing over small things, that of course including the Uchiha, Tenten would join in occasionally but had a hard time keeping up, so mostly stuck to chatting with Hinata.  
In the boys locker room though, it was unusually loud. Even without Naruto the result would probably be the same. But Gaara was definitely not having it that morning. He was paler, tired, ears were ringing. 'I really should have fucking eaten.' he thinks sourly and straightens his belt, making it loose, and leaves first. Gaara worked himself hard that practice, and without eating or drinking any water he was really suffering the consequences. Lee, Naruto, Sasuke, and Kiba follow after their captain, while Shikamaru and Sai (who had skipped practice), walk off in the opposite direction.  
"I'm just saying!" Naruto shrugs innocently.  
"Sure you are, foxy." Kiba smirks.  
"You're boasting again." Sasuke rolls his eyes.  
"Oh like you don't do it, Mr. Cool Guy!" Naruto sticks his tongue out.  
"I still think your," Lee clears his throat, "CAPTAIN, would be the one to make that decision, Naruto..." Lee laughs. "Right, Gaara-Sama?" he smiles down to the shorter, but gets no response. Gaara has his head hung, and is only trying to focus on not passing out.  
Sasuke furrows his brows, trying to get a good look at their captains face.  
"Er, Gaara?" Naruto says something, and the shorter stops. He glances up at Lee and places a hand on the tallers shoulder, before actually passing out.  
"G-Gaara-Sama!" Lee steps forward and catches the boys limp body.  
"Oh shit!" Kiba says without thinking.  
"Gaara?!" Naruto says, totally caught off guard. He helps Lee out and throws Gaaras other arm over his shoulder.  
"what the hell..." Sasuke says confused. and finally gets a good look at their captain. "He probably passed out from low blood sugar or something." the raven shrugs. And suddenly Naruto feels guilty.  
"Oh... really? I-is that so?" he chuckles nervously.  
"What did you do now?" Kiba holds the bridge of his nose.  
"Well uh, so you see, I-"  
"It's not important right now." Lee suddenly interrupts. "You three get to class, Ill take Gaara-Sama to the nurses office." Lee nods assuringly.  
"You sure, greenie?" Kiba asks softly.  
"No problem! He's light, anyways." Lee smiles brightly and chuckles a bit.  
"Alright, we can trust you with 'em." Naruto winks and laughs.  
"Later Lee." Sasuke flicks his hand as a wave, and the three leave.  
"Yeah..." Lee sighs, and picks Gaara up bridal-style. The red-head curls up in his arms, even though unconscious. And although it was super cute, Lee didn't really have the time to freak out over it. Not wasting any time, the taller takes Gaara to the nurses office. When Lee drops him off, even when the nurse says he can go back to class, Lee stays to watch over the captain.  
After about only 30 minutes, Gaara slowly wakes. He stares up at the ceiling for a little while before cautiously sitting up. Already knowing there's a wall directly to his left, he takes a look to the right. Lee is leaning back in a chair beside the bed, reading a short book. He glances up from the top of the pages and grins, setting the short book down. "Hello, Gaara-Sama." he says cheerfully.  
"... I knew it." Gaara says distantly under his breathe.  
"What?" Lee looks at him confused.  
'I knew you would wait here while I was out...' Gaara lightened up, it was evident in his expression. "Nothing." he shakes away the topic. "Why did you wait here? I don't know how long I was out, at most probably 45 minutes. But still..." Gaara glances at the wall, then back at Lee. Their eyes lock for a moment, and they sit in silence, until Lee breaks out of his little trance and starts blabbering about how he was worried or how he just wanted to make sure everything was ok. "Ah... I see." Gaara nods quietly. "Well, thank you, Lee." he says honestly with a small shrug. Gaara brings his knees tiredly to his chest, and drops his arms around them. More silence passes, and Lee exams Gaaras legs. They're bruised all over.  
"I don't mean to sound like a creep or anything but, I just noticed, why are your legs all bruised..." Lee faintly points.  
"Oh?" Gaara looks over his knees to examine his calves and shins. "Well, I don't wear shin guards. I'm surprised you haven't noticed, though." Gaara looks up at Lee, trapping him in the light blue orbs again.  
"W-w-well I-I just e-erm..." Lee blushes and stutters, coming up with excuses as to why he hadn't noticed and such.  
"Its fine, Lee. Just admit I don't have nice legs, I understand." Gaara looks at the wall.  
"W-what?! I-I never meant that-!" Lee blushes darker red and waves his hands in front of him.  
"You're so gullible. I'm kidding, Lee. Stop worrying so much..." Gaara turns his head back to face his friend, and theres a faint little smile on his lips. Lees stomach fills with butterflies and he cant help but grin.  
"Y-you're right, Gaara-Sama. Sorry." he giggles.  
"Don't be such a dork." Gaara smirks and pushes Lees bicep, although weakly.  
"Right right." Lee laughs, and then things quiet again. "Did you eat breakfast?" he asks seriously, but calmly. Gaara shakes his head. "Have you had any water?" Lee asks another question, this time sounding a tad more concerned. Gaara waits for a few seconds before shaking his head again. Lee sighs, "And you spent all that energy on an empty stomach. What kind of a captain does that?" Lee chuckles, but was serious in that statement. The red-head shrugs, not answering anything in voice. Lee stands and goes to the counter. He grabs a small paper cup and fills it with water from the sink, then hands it to Gaara. "You should probably eat a big lunch today." he recommends, and doesnt get a response. The nurse soon comes back into the pristine, white room and smiles upon seeing that Gaara is awake again.  
"How was your rest?" she chuckles, taking out a clipboard from one of the counter drawers.  
"Shitty." Gaara answers bluntly, and comes to a careful stand beside Lee.  
"Well," the nurse sighs, "I tried calling your father but he hasn't answered any of my calls, so I left a voicemail. You'll just have to resume classes like usual until we hear anything from him, if we do. And if you feel dissy again or light-headed go ahead and come down." the nurse nods, jotting things down on the paper as she talks.  
"Yeah, ok." Gaara says quietly and leaves with Lee. They rush to 2-C, not wanting to be too late, and take their seats after briefly explaining what happened to Kakashi.  
"So anyways, the benzene would have an effect on..." Kakashi continues his lecture.  
"Where were you guys?" Choji asks, tone hushed as he munches on various chips.  
"I had to help Gaara-Sama with some... stuff." Lee smiles to the captain, who doesnt return the look.  
"It was nothing important." The red-head sighs, staring straight forward at the sensei.  
"Thus, this is why the compound is too dangerous to be messed around with in closed spaces." Kakashi turns around to face the class, and the rooms door suddenly opens. Kakashi arches a brow and looks over, and a small figure enters the class.  
"Good morning, Sensei." a small girls voice giggles.  
"It's been a while, Matsuri. What are you doing here?" The teacher replies calmly to the short and slim brown-haired child.  
"I have to give something to Gaara!" she giggles and skips down the rows of seats, stopping beside Gaaras desk.  
"You cant keep interrupting class." Gaara sighs, taking a red box from her.  
"I'm sorry, Gaara." she says innocently, wide and glossy eyes.  
"Oh come on..." Gaara glances off with a guilty sigh.  
'Ohmygod...' Lee holds his hands over his mouth. 'THEY ARE SO CUTE' he giggles internally. He doesnt know who the little girl Matsuri is but, the relationship she seems to have with Gaara is admittedly adorable.  
"What is this anyways." The red-head clears his throat as Kakashi continues class.  
"Bentooo!" Matsuri giggles. Gaara furrows his brows and stares quizzidly down at her.  
"How did you know I needed-"  
"Your dad told me you passed out, so I wanted to make sure you ate an extra lot today!" She grins.  
"Wait... my dad?"  
"Yeah don't worry about it- ANYWAYS." she stands on her toes. "I want to stay here and eat lunch with you, Gaara." she holds onto the olders wrist, hanging off of it.  
"You cant." Gaara answers honestly.  
"Why..." Matsuri frowns.  
"Because, err..." Gaara glances away to avoid her sad little eyes.  
"Gaara-Sama." Lee nudges the red-heads shoulder. "You can't just ignore her." he frowns as well.  
"Seriously? Lee I-"  
"Pleassseeeee?" Matsuri interrupts and pleads.  
"You really should, Gaara-Sama." Lee adds fuel to the fire.  
'Jesus Christ, the both of you...' Gaara bares his teeth and sighs in frustration. "I mean... ugh, fine. Just today." he submits. Both Matsuri and Lee cheer. "But you're following Lee around today, not me." Gaara adds.  
"Wait what?" Lee sits up straight.  
"Oh nothing." Gaara shrugs, then goes on to ignore both of them and pay strict attention to the lesson. Matsuri steps closer to Lees desk, now focusing her attention on him.  
"And you are?" Lee smiles politely. The young girl stands up straight before bowing her head.  
"Matsuri!" she giggles.  
"It's good to meet you, Matsuri. I'm Rock Lee." He holds out his hand, showing a bold thumbs up with a shining smile.  
"Thanks for helping me...." Matsuri whispers and winks playfully, then latches on to Lees arm and stands right beside him.  
"Yeah, my pleasure." Lee winks back.  
At the end of class, Gaara picks up all his things and turns to look at the pair, who are both making small origami birds. He raises a brow and sighs 'Well, Lee is childish just like Matsuri is. I cant expect anything less.' he lets a slight chuckle escape his lips, then speaks. "Ill see you two at lunch then." He leaves with the final word.  
The two nod, and once he's out of sight the young girl looks up to Lee.  
"Lee." she says seriously.  
"Yeah...?"  
"Are you Gaaras boyfriend?" she smiles innocently. Lee freezes and stops working on the small paper bird. His face lights up a dark red, and he doesnt have any words the first couple seconds.  
"A-a-am I-I?" Lee is delightfully nervous about it.  
"Gaara talks about you alllll the time! Aaaaand he just trusted you with me, soooo" Matsuri exaggerates her words.  
"Does he...?" Lee chuckles bashfully. 'Kankurou said that too, didn't he?' Lee furrows his brows. "Now it makes sense why the small-fry won't shut up about you..." He recalls under his breathe, quietly to try and make sure Matsuri doesnt hear. "Matsuri; What does Gaara say about me?" He asks boldly this time, meeting her eyes.  
"Huh? Oh, well..." she puckers her lips and looks off, pushing the tips of her two index fingers together while she thinks. "Sometimes when he takes me out to the so we can play with the ball together, and he'll tell me about his day, and I'll tell him about mine..." she trails.  
"Ok?" Lee nods, waiting patiently for further explanation.  
"But whenenver he mentions you, which is a lot, he gets really happy." Matsuri smiles, and finally makes eye contact with the older. "About something silly or cute that you did, or about how you impressed him at the tryouts, I don't know!" she giggles.  
"Really..." Lee says quietly, a growing grin on his rosy face.  
"So that's why I think you would be a perfect boyfriend!" she latches back onto Lees arm.  
"I don't think I'm qualified to be Gaaras boyfriend, haha..." he laughs embrassedly.  
"Why not?" Matsuri cocks her head to the side.  
"Because I can't be serious." Lee makes up an excuse and shrugs with a goofy smile.  
"But Gaara is TOO serious. Perfect balance!" Matsuri acts as if her hands are weighed scales balanced with each other. Kakashi enters back into the classroom after being out in the hallway and resumes class.  
"We'll talk later" Lee whispers to get off-topic quickly.  
"Ok, but I'll definitely talk about it at lunch." Matsuri snickers.  
"P-please don't..." Lee chuckles nervously.  
"Why?" She blinks.  
"Because, um, Gaara-Sama will be very angry!" he nods quickly.  
"Oh...?" Matsuri frowns.  
"Oh yeah." Lee nods confirmingly. He can definitely see Gaara getting pissed if she brought something like that up in front of everyone. And more importantly: Lee would be ridiculously embarrassed, probably to the point of no return. 'I wonder if my face would be permanently red.' He thinks. 'And actually... I wonder if Gaara is even open about whatever sexuality he is?' Lee furrows his brows, staring off as Matsuri tries to get his attention. 'I wonder if he's into girls, too, like I am?' he puckers his lips.  
"Lee!" Matsuri yells in a whisper-tone, and slaps the older across the face. His eyes widen, and he blinks coming back to reality.  
"S-sorry..." Lee chuckles and leans back in his seat.  
"What's on the board?" Matsuri points with a confused expression.  
"Oh, just history stuff. You wouldn't get it." Lee shrugs and looks down at his paper. 'I haven't been writing the lesson down?!' he figures out and shuffles around to get his pen from his backpack. Drilling his paper with knowledge on the subject, Matsuri watches with growing interest. This only continues for seconds though; she grows bored quickly and takes some paper to color on the floor with.

~

"Lunch, lunch, lunch, lunch~" Matsuri sings and skips down the hallways beside Lee.  
"Are you hungry, Matsuri?" Lee chuckles, holding onto his backpacks straps.  
"Mhm." She nods as they reach the lunchroom. "I'll just eat Gaaras food though." She giggles innocently, and spots the soccer table instantaneously. Right before she can bolt though, Lee places a hand on her head, stopping her.  
"Remember what I said though, haha..." He blushes lightly.  
"I won't say anything! I know!" She sighs.  
"Good Matsuri." Lee laughs and lets her run off while he gets food. 'I should probably sit with the others today...' He glances at Tenten and Neji's table, then back at the soccer table. "Maybe I'll just check to make sure Gaaras feeling better." He smiles and gets food. Stopping at his friends table first, he sets his trey down next to Hinatas friend Shino. "I'm gonna be right back; Choji don't eat my food." He jokes.  
"Don't even worry about it." Choji says with a mouthful.  
"We got it covered...." Shikamaru chuckles as Lee races off. Matsuri is sitting on Gaaras lap, goofing around while he tries to eat.  
"That looks comfortable." Lee chuckles, leaning over Gaaras shoulder.  
"Does no one respect personal space anymore..." Gaara mumbles, annoyance clear in the air around him.  
"The baby is grumpy." Sasuke smirks.  
"And the other baby isn't helping." Sakura chuckles, watching Matsuri bounce around on the captains lap.  
"How does this happen to me." Gaara sighs deeply, and slaps his hands onto Matsuris shoulders; stopping the rambunctious child.  
"Karma?" Naruto laughs.  
"For what?" Gaara glares.  
"Oh nothing~" Naruto whistles, looking around above his head.  
"Well uh... anyway." Lee rubs the back of his neck. "Are you feeling better?" He asks the red-head calmly.  
"Huh? Oh..." Gaara pauses. "I'm fine, surprised you asked, actually." he shrugs, looking away with his brows knitted together.  
"Oooooo~" Matsuri smirks.  
"Matsuri!" Lee says through his teeth, blush covering his cheeks.  
"Whaaat?" She giggles.  
"Yes, Lee, I'm feeling fine..." He sighs. "Thanks." Gaara says quietly, and takes an abrupt bite of the peeled orange from his trey.  
"Alright, haha." The whole table is silence. "I'm just uh, gonna, go back to my table haha..." Lee pops his lips awkwardly.  
"Bye, Lee." Sakura smiles. Lee seems to brighten at this, and Gaaras annoyance deepens.  
"Bye, Sakura-Chan!" He says giddily and walks off. Matsuri stares up at Gaara with a confused expression. His red forelocks cover his eyes as he glares at the table.  
"You ok..?" she pokes his forehead.  
"Fine." He grumbles.  
"Baby so grumpy." Sasuke sighs, shaking his head.  
"Stop saying that!" Gaara looks up, glaring at the raven-haired.  
"Oh; Would you prefer a different example?" Sasuke props his elbows on the table and rests his chin on his folded hands with a smug smirk.  
"I would prefer you shut the Hell up." Gaara shrugs, now calmed.  
"Can we please eat in peace for once?" Sakuras head cranes back, she stares up at the sky with no hope for the team.  
"We're fine!" Naruto chimes heartily.  
"We're doomed." Kiba sighs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh god that transition from the morning to lunch... D:

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic on here so if you have comments about how shitty it is take it easy... XD
> 
> Please send some encouragement if you like the story, I struggle with it, and a few words means everything to me :)
> 
> Also I apologize if the characters are out-of, I need to work on making sure they are believable.


End file.
